Gaara Sakura: Mission to the Hidden Sand Arc
by LoveAnime5891
Summary: Tsunade assigned Sakura to give a medical assistance to the citizens & shinobi intoxicated by a poisonous gas circling around the sand village. Kankuro and Temari went to go investigate who the culprit was. An invisible, destructive bomb has been placed inside the Kazekage's tower where it was secretly hidden. Only one suspect has the button in their hands to blow up in chaos.
1. Daily Grind

**Hey, guys! I'm pleased to be back to writing another GaaSaku story for you and hopefully, I'll be making more sometime in the future!**

 **Anyways, please read review! :)**

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It was 10:00 am in the morning where the leaf squad was currently traveling over the sea on the way to their destination. They were all segregated in different spots of the huge boat. Some of the teammates were leaning against the deck railing, sightseeing the mesmerizing view of the blue, aquatic ocean. The others were sitting on top of the barrels, chatting amongst themselves.

"Whoo! This is definitely going to be the best trip ever!" Kiba cheered out loud with enthusiasm. His well-grown dog, Akamaru, barked in agreement.

"Yeah! I couldn't agree more on that!" Lee pumped his fists up in the air.

"It sure seems so nice out here. The food here does taste good," Choji mumbled while he was munching on the chips hungrily.

"There's no waiter or waitresses around who serves a bag of salty potato chips. You brought those stuff along with you, remember?" Ino rolled her eyes at him in annoyance.

"Anyway, guys. We should arrive at exactly 12:00 noon. We'll miss our lunchtime," Shino reminded.

"Right. A few of us have to catch some fishes while one of us have to start lighting a bonfire," Shikamaru said thoughtfully and asked. "Any volunteers?"

"Wait. But where's Naruto and Sakura?" Lee asked blankly.

"What are they discussing about?" Tenten wondered curiously.

"I don't know," Ino shrugged with a frown.

Hinata stared off into space and thought. "Naruto..."

On the other hand, the two close friends were leaning against the wooden railing while enjoying the fresh, breezy air hitting across their faces.

"This is so nice," Sakura sighed in relief.

"Yeah. I never expect that our squad would agree to have a vacation together," Naruto said smiling warmly at the view of the sea and continued on. "It just sucks that Sasuke is not here to spend time with us. I miss the good old days."

"Me too," the pink-haired kunoichi replied softly as her eyes were glistening in sadness at the thought of him.

"Do you remember the time when the three of us were trying to uncover Kakashi's real hidden face?" The blonde-haired ninja asked chuckling.

"Oh, gosh. That really ticked me off a little because even if he tries to remove it, he still has another mask covered on," the pink-haired kunoichi started giggling.

"So classic," Naruto shook his head with a smirk on his face.

"Well, I can't say that our first test on getting the two bells from sensei is definitely a smooth challenge," Sakura stated with her lips curled up.

"You passed out from thinking that Sasuke's head was disintegrated from the ground," the blonde-haired ninja laughed hysterically.

The pink-haired kunoichi nudged her elbow towards his playfully and said, trying to stifle a laughter. "Shut up."

"You know, it's true," Naruto said chuckling and tries to avoid her little punches away from him.

"Having fun, kids?" A familiar voice spoke out near the distance.

Both of them glanced over their shoulders to see who it is.

"Shikamaru," the pink-haired kunoichi called out gladly and asked. "What is it? Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah. We've made a few suggestions to see who would like to volunteer to catch some fishes," he noted as he rubbed his hair at the back of his head.

"I'll do it," Naruto exclaimed with a nod.

"Alright, then. What about you, Sakura?" Shikamaru asked when he glanced at her direction.

"I'll cook food with the girls," the pink-haired kunoichi replied with a smile.

"Good. Now, that's settled. Let's get fishing," the leader smirked as they started to walk back to meet up with the rest of the group.

Later on, they gathered themselves in a circle while they were eating grilled seafood with white rice hungrily. One of them decided to speak out gladly.

"Hmmm. Man, these are definitely the best," Kiba grinned as well as Akamaru barking in response.

"Yeah. Sakura, you really do have amazing cooking skills," Lee said cheerily as his eyes burned with passion and continued on. "A natural, gifted one, I must say."

"Can you make more?" Choji asked desperately.

"Awww, guys. Come on, the girls also helped too," the pink-haired kunoichi laughed nervously with a grin.

"Yeah. Don't neglect us like that, boys," Ino huffed as she rolled her eyes at them.

"Sheesh. And to think that we are not a very good cook, you guys should be ashamed of yourselves," Tenten pouted with a sigh.

"We are not underestimating you. Of course, we will compliment you one by one. You all have a different set of skills when it comes to cooking, so don't take this the harsh way," Shikamaru pointed out as he chuckled slightly.

"Exactly," Choji nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Naruto. Once we get to the island, you and I can go sparring. One on one. How about that?" Kiba asked excitingly.

The blonde-haired ninja finished chewing the fish, then he swallows it and answered with an encouraging smile. "Sure. That would be great. Man, I miss training with you guys when we were kids. Now, I want to see how we can all fight later."

"Yup. I'm certain that one of us will win," Kiba said chuckling proudly.

"If you say so. Wait until you see my new Rasengan technique," Naruto flexed his right muscle arm with confidence, much to the others' cheering.

"Huh. Well, I also developed a new ninjutsu," Kiba pointed out with his eyes closed.

"Pfft. No, you haven't. It's usually the same old ones you use," Tenten rolled her eyes in annoyance and started giggling with the other girls.

Kiba blushed in embarrassment and defended himself, saying. "I swear I have not. Trust me, you'll see when Naruto and I begin our fight."

"Anyway, do you guys know what kind of island we're heading to?" Choji asked curiously.

"Tsunade told me that it's mostly called an Aquatic Fantasia. There are not many monsters, beasts, or forest creatures lurking around the area. However, this does not mean that we are having a lot of extra fun. We must guard ourselves securely from any danger at all times," Shikamaru informed the group sternly and continued on. "If there's any unusual stuff or magic spells being cast on one of our teammates, report to me immediately. Other than that, if you are capable of handling it yourselves in. Then, please listen carefully to my instructions."

Everyone in the circle was looking at their jounin leader more focused. They were waiting for him to tell them what they need in case of harm's way.

About half an hour, they had arrived at the island when the boat stopped near the wooden deck. They began to carry their backpacks and other camping equipment on their shoulders as they walked down the borders of the ship. A few of the young shinobi decided to jump down instead and glanced over the front view of the island.

"Ahh. We've finally made it. If Guy-sensei was here, he and I will absolutely enjoy working out and improve our abilities," Lee noted as he raised both of his arms up.

"Hm. I agree, which reminds me... We can run and practice climbing the trees with our feet only," Naruto nodded in agreement with a wide grin.

"Using too much chakra is not always a good idea when there may be a hidden enemy at a place like this," Neji stated with his arms crossed.

"He's right, you know," Tenten sighed and puts her hands on her hip. "We have to stay as a group. But Shikamaru might instruct all of us to be in a group of four."

"He'll tell us on the way to the camping area, so I suppose we should all get going," Shino said, pushing his sunglasses up towards the bridge of his nose.

"Whoever reaches the spot wins," Naruto declared out loud.

"Got it!" Lee followed along as they both were running fast as quickly as possible, leaving the others in surprise.

"Jeez. Don't tell me those two are the resemblance of Guy-sensei and Kakashi-sensei," Ino muttered in annoyance.

"You bet," Sakura said chuckling in amusement at the sight of the two hyperactive ninjas. "What do you know? It's a vacation after all, but I guess we really need to keep an eye on them."

"Right. Hey, umm. Do you know if there is a washroom I can use?" Hinata asked shyly.

"Why? What's wrong?" Sakura asked blankly.

"Well, you know. It's my time of the month," Hinata whispered quietly.

"Ahh... Don't worry, I got you. I'll give you the pads later," Ino patted her lightly with a grin.

"Pads? What are those?" Kiba asked curiously behind them.

The girls had their eyes wide open in shock as they turned over their backs to look at him.

"Hey! Don't you dare make a joke about that or I'll transfer your mind somewhere else," Ino argued heatedly.

"Yo. Chill! I was only asking. But I guess you don't need to tell me, then if it's a girly stuff, I assume," Kiba said rolling his eyes carelessly and walks ahead of them, whereas Akamaru catches up along with him.

During the afternoon, the leaf squad stopped by the camping site area and began to set up their tents and prepare the protective barriers around them, which automatically alarms them if there was any sign of enemies coming to attack them.

"Alright, so we're good?" Shikamaru asked smirking.

"Yeah," everyone replied in unison.

"What's the schedule for today?" Ino chirped in a question.

"We will be doing warm-up exercises for thirty minutes and play volleyball down at the beach. It is only a few blocks away, but it is still closest to us. Aside from that, we are still training and practicing our skills to improve ourselves as a shinobi. That's what Lady Tsunade had informed me about. Don't forget or else, she'll give you extra beats of her fists," Shikamaru concluded smirking at them in amusement.

"Haha. Better watch out, boys," Tenten commented and stuck her tongue out in a silly way.

"Pfft. Us? I beg your pardon, but she can also give you bitch slaps on the face as well," Kiba snorted until one of a medium metal spike balls almost hit him on the side. "Whoa! Calm down, I was only kidding."

"Ugh," Tenten rolled her eyes carelessly.

"Wait, so we are mostly just training here on this island? I thought this was a vacation for a second. Sheesh. I did not expect so much from this," Ino said sighing in disappointment.

"As I said, we can still play sports or go around to explore new areas that we don't know here," Shikamaru reminded carefully.

"Hey, why don't we vote for two options: those in favor of playing volley ball, raise your hand," Naruto interrogated as bumped up his fist in the air confidently.

"Me!" Choji, Ino, Tenten declared out loud with excitement.

"I guess it's not so bad to enjoy a sport. Although, I'll join since there are only three people," Shino said thoughtfully.

"Okay. And those in favor of practical training, raise your hand," the blonde-haired ninja asked grinning.

"Me!" Sakura, Kiba, Lee, and Hinata declared out loud.

"Hm. That's a pretty even for all," Shikamaru nodded impressively and continued on with a smile. "So I guess this means Naruto, Neji, and I will be in charge of this whole place."

"Yup. You betcha!" The blonde-haired ninja chuckled in contentment.

"Ah, wow. For some reason, you really have grown," Sakura noticed as she stared at her best friend dearly.

"Yeah, Naruto. You really did go through some stuff with the old man, Jiraiya. Aww, man, you're so lucky though. Even you, Sakura. Practice sparring with Lady Tsunade," Tenten frowned, yet managed to smile at the same time.

"Well, we both have those similar qualities and I don't know how. But really, I guess they found the kind of people that reflects them entirely," Sakura explained.

"Hmm. Agreed," Tenten nodded with a warm smile.

"Alright, then. Now, what are we waiting for? Be prepared and let's go," Shikamaru noted as he and his two teammates were heading out in separation to ensure the island's safety.

"Okay, see you guys later!" Ino waved a gesture at them.

"Yeah, don't break a leg," Tenten called out, which made Neji smile at her.

"Later, Shikamaru!" Choji made a peace sign at him.

"We'll be back around evening. So save us some lunch, will ya?" The blonde-haired ninja said grinning at them.

The pink-haired kunoichi was looking at Naruto and said. "Please, be careful on the way out."

"Of course, Sakura. Don't worry," he replied back with reassurance and the three ninjas soon left the scene.

"Okay, everyone. Let's head to the beach," Sakura informed happily.

"Yeah!" The boys and girls screamed joyfully in unison.

They are looking forward to the day they will spend time their time together and this was their moment. Although, one thing they didn't know is that some people are watching them very closely.

"I did not know how big group they are, hmm. Guess I better prepare my clay art bombs now, yeah," one of the Akatsuki members ranted with a curt nod.

"Shhh! Hey, lower your voice down, Deidara or else, they will hear us. You can't create explosions at this point," the white Zetsu hissed quietly in a warning.

"But come on, they are out in the open, hmm," he stated thoughtfully.

"Ah... Guys, did you even listen to what I've said before? Stick to the plan and quit bickering. Remember, Sakura is our main target and we need to wait and act fast. Got it?" The mysterious girl said sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," the two of her allies replied back.

"Okay, good. I may not be part of the Akatsuki. But since the leader considered me, I may as well do something for the organization," she explained with a sigh.

"And that is what?" The white Zetsu asked curiously with a grin.

"Hm. You'll find out once we capture her," the mysterious girl said chuckling wickedly at the sight of the pink-haired kunoichi and her friends and continued on. "And then... erase her entire existence that nobody will ever remember a single thing about her."

With that said, the three of them suddenly vanished in a flash without leaving any traces behind. Nobody can see them nor hear them from a far distance.

Meanwhile, Naruto stood in the middle of the forest and began to summon a toad immediately, which appeared in a small puff of smoke in front of him.

"Hey, what's up?" The toad greeted with his lips curled upward.

Naruto squinted his eyes in annoyance and cried out in frustration. "Ahhh! Not you, again. I was going to summon Gamabunta about the current situation."

"Gee. Thanks, Naruto. Well, he's not available right now, so don't complain. I'm here to help and tell me all about it," the toad questioned.

"Listen, Shikamaru told me that there may be something strange about this island. It's impossible that there are no enemies hiding, don't you think?" The blonde-haired ninja speculated.

"Definitely. Looks like you guys are investigating and searching for clues. Where are the others? Sakura?" The toad asked blankly.

"She's with them, apparently. She's practicing her training," the blonde-haired ninja answered with a smile.

"Ah. I see. So what do you need help on, exactly?" The toad asked.

"Okay, but we can walk around, making sure everything is safe. It totally gives me a different feeling about this. I can't even explain it," Naruto said wondering. Then, they began to patrol around the area that they were in.

On the other side of the forest, Neji was standing with his eyes closed and exclaimed in mind. "Byakugan!"

His white eyes popped open with tiny little veins around the lids as he was roaming deeply into the trees, but could not find any person. However, his gut instincts were telling him contrarily.

"That's strange. Why can't I see someone, but can feel them? What's going on?" He questioned in suspicion.

Somewhere along the beach shore, the messenger hawk came across the sky and flew towards where Shikamaru is spotted.

He lends out his arm as the hawk rested upon him and pulled out the message scroll from its clutch, then reads:

 _"To the Leaf squad,_

 _We've just discovered that the island is not a good place for you to wander around. But since you guys already arrived, I will give you two days. So I advise each and every one of you to get out of there as soon as possible. Apparently, you may not clearly see that there are a few enemies hiding there for some reason. They're three of them on the loose. There is a danger coming in your way if you decided to stay more than two or three days. Be careful on the way out._

 _From Your 5th Hokage, Lady Tsunade"_

"Damn. This is bad," Shikamaru muttered firmly and kept the scroll in his pocket. He ran back to go find Naruto and Neji as soon as possible.

Shino and the others had been playing volleyball in the beach, whereas Sakura and the rest of the group were practicing their training.

One of them was serving the ball and passing it to each other until one of the teams score higher than the other one.

"Awww, darn it. You guys are better at this, eh. I'm hungry," Choji pouted with a sad expression.

"Oh, come on, Choji. Lighten up. Don't give up on this. We'll win against them," Ino glanced at her right, smirking.

"Are you sure about that? Because the game is going to be over soon," Tenten said giggling.

"Huh? No. This is only the first round. Don't think highly of yourself, Tenten. You may not like on who I'm about to spike on," Ino smirked nastily.

"Really? Excuse you, But I've been well trained with sports and it's not like you are so expert at it if you haven't been working most of the days at the Flower Shop," Tenten remarked.

"Like you would know what I'm doing with my life," Ino said sarcastically.

"Ladies, if you don't start, then Choji and I might as well give up playing," Shino stated.

Ino and Tenten looked at him and replied back. "Right."

"Okay, I'll start," Ino said as she was aiming towards them at the slightest angle correctly.

Kiba yawned tiredly and was sitting and resting down on the sand with Akamaru. "That seems fun. I might as well join them later. Too exhausted right now."

"You should at least not use too much chakra," Hinata said.

"If you are resting, I'll continue to do my workout routine. I'll complete my 300 push-ups," Lee stated with enthusiasm.

"How is that even possible?" Kiba asked in disbelief.

"Guy-sensei has trained me a lot. He encourages me to push over the limits and go beyond," Lee said as he was doing push-ups.

"But you'll pass out. It's too risky and Sakura will not be happy about it," Hinata pointed out in concern.

"Don't worry, I promise her that I wouldn't overdo it," Lee recalled back as he watches admiringly her practice her physical combats.

Kiba was looking at them in curiosity and started to tease him. "Ooh. You are so in love with her."

"Quiet! She might hear you!"Lee shushed him when his cheeks tinged in pink.

Hinata was giggling with her hand in amusement at the silliness between Kiba and Lee. She couldn't help but smile genuinely at the boys and looked at Sakura in thought. "You're so lucky that there are a few people who are looking up to you, especially Naruto. He notices you everything about you. I'm jealous of you, you know."

"Heads up!" Ino called out loud.

"Huh," Hinata turned around to see what was happening until the volleyball hit her on the head. She squealed in shock and rubbed her head comfortingly.

Kiba caught the ball in surprise and decided to make a decision. Akamaru, on the other hand, was only resting on the sand, panting his tongue out.

"Oh sorry, Hinata!" Ino apologized and asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied with a reassuring smile.

"Hey, Ino. Can I join with you, guys? I'm starting to feel a little energized now," Kiba asked as he jogged up towards them and hand in the volleyball to her.

"Yeah, but we need another team member, so it'll be three against three," she instructed with her fingers.

"I see. In that case, I'll try," Lee said grinning as his teeth sparkled like a bright light.

"Alrighty, let's do it!" Kiba shouted.

"Okay, it's on," Ino declared with a smile. The teams began the second round as Kiba was the first one to serve the ball inthe right direction against the others.

Hinata sighed and looked at the sky peacefully as always. She drew her attention away from them and continued to focus more on her training by meditating first before she releases her blue chakra.

The flames began to appear on both of her hands intensely as she started fighting physically in combat.

Sakura also had her hands clasped together, unleashing green chakra as a way to improve her healing skills. She has her eyes closed for a moment to concentrate as her power began to expand and her aura was beginning to change into a shade of bright green, amplifying her surroundings, much to everyone's startlement.

"Woohoo! Way to go, Sakura!" Lee cheered on.

"Hm. Never fails to amaze me," Ino said smiling at her doing the progress work in her training.

Suddenly, the pink-haired kunoichi opened her eyes in disturbance when an anonymous force was shaking uncontrollably inside her body. Then, she slowly collapsed down as her head lay on the sand. A small blood drip down from her mouth and coughed with her eyes closed.

Everyone was shocked as they witnessed what had happened to her and some of them cried out her name in panic. "SAKURA!"

Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru arrived at the scene and their eyes widened at the sight of Sakura's unconscious state where the group was gathered around the circle.

"Sakura!" The blonde-haired ninja was running toward her and found Hinata checking her pulses. "What happened? Is she okay?!"

"I don't know. She quickly passed out for no reason," Hinata answered sadly.

"Guys, listen up. I need your attention. Hinata, do what you can to wake Sakura up. I will tell you and I need you to follow my instructions," Shikamaru said sternly with his hands on his hips and continued on. "Recently, I've come across to read the message from Lady Tsunade. She told me that this place is not good and we need to leave off this island before three days. I know this sucks because this place is called Aquatic Fantasia, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a safe vacation to lay out here. We can only stay for only two days. That's all. We don't know what kind of enemies we might be facing. All that I know is that those enemies are from the Akatsuki."

Naruto and the others were stunned to hear the news and they knew what was coming for them.

"I knew it!" Kiba pointed out.

"But what are they planning? What do they want?" The blonde-haired ninja asked suspiciously and continued on. "Who are they targeting?"

"We do not know for sure. One thing I know is that after the Kazekage kidnapping incident, it is most likely that they may be chasing after you or someone else in this group," Shikamaru analyzed at the possibilities that may occur sometime.

"Hm... That is strange. I did have a bad feeling about it when I could never see any sudden traces or signs around the forest. They are definitely in hiding as of now," Neji said correctly.

"Damn. So that means what, they're going to kill us?" Choji guessed firmly.

"Well, I kind of figured that this is going to happen. However, what about Sakura? She just lost consciousness," Lee said worriedly when he glanced at her way while Hinata was taking care of her.

 _"What's going on? Are they targeting me next?" The blonde-haired ninja questioned himself in mind._

Naruto and the rest of the group were looking at her and began to wonder what on earth did actually happened. They have no specific evidence, except Lady Tsunade and the councilors.

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 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	2. Welcome Home!

**Anyways, please read & review! :)**

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The night came when the moon appears, which made the blue sky clear as usual. Everyone was gathered around the campfire, eating their fried squid with rice balls and drinking a cup of herbal tea.

A few them wanted to stand up instead of sitting down since they are more comfortable that way.

"Man... This is problematic," Shikamaru sighed tiredly and continued on. "But you know, I really think this has nothing to do with Naruto this time."

"Okay, then. If it's not me, who is it and what do they want?" The blonde-haired ninja asked in irritation.

"All we know is that they are probably after someone who hurt them badly," Shikamaru answered.

"Of course, revenge is always the solution to one's problem," Kiba snorted sarcastically as he shook his head in the thought of his previous enemies.

"Not all the time. There are some good people out there, you know," Tenten stated when she rested her right cheek upon her hand.

"Oh, please. You expect me to believe that? Sometimes, the world ain't sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, it is," he scoffed.

"Seriously? How negative can you get? Pretty debatable, I must say," Tenten clenched her teeth, preventing herself from contending with him.

"If those enemies are meandering this whole island, then why would Sakura suddenly pass out of consciousness? Quite dubious, I assume," Neji thought skeptically.

"Do you think this has something to do with her?" Shino asked.

"There's no way that Sakura had done wrong to them. She's practically been with Lady Tsunade most of the times, working hard day and night," Lee argued.

"I think it's pretty bullshit if you ask me that question about Sakura. I've known her for almost all my life," Naruto pointed out fairly with his eyes narrowed at the others intently.

"Guys! Quit bickering and let Shikamaru concentrate! We shouldn't be arguing or boasting on who's right about this situation that we're in," Choji yelled out in exasperation, much to their astonishment.

They all sat in silence for a moment until the leaf squad leader opened his eyes and raised up his head towards their direction. He began to spoke out quietly and steadily for them to listen closely.

"I have a plan and since one of our team members is down. There is only eight of us and we will track them before dawn. After all, I'm a strategist, so please follow along and this is the last straw that we will be taking," Shikamaru instructed as he pulled out the scroll and drew the figures on each different spots. "Now, two is an even number and each of us must attempt to confront them based on our abilities. Naruto and Kiba, you two will be the first ones to do the summoning. Neji and Hinata, you'll be all eye-sightseeing the place. Tenten and Lee, you'll be using your ninjutsu. And finally, Shino and I will be waiting to trap them with his bugs and my shadow. That is all, whereas Ino and Choji will be on the ship, ensuring Sakura's safety."

"If this fails, then what's next?" Naruto asked blankly.

"We are just going to retreat quickly if that occurs," Shikamaru answered logically. "That way, we know how they're capable of fighting and the way they act."

"I see your point," Neji said in agreement.

"Yeah. Any suggestions before we pack our stuff?" The leader asked as he waited for them to raise their hands until he saw one up in the air. "Tenten?"

"Just how are we going to attack them? Can I use my platinum twin dragon scrolls and my other huge sharp blades while on the move?" She asked, doubting about herself.

"Whatever works for you. But use the ones that can counter their hits. Don't worry if your techniques are not yet improved because I know you are working on them. That is why Lee is your partner and is there to help you out. Remember, Tenten. You are a strong kunoichi and you shouldn't lower yourself down. Be confident about the kind of skills you have stored in you. This includes everyone here," Shikamaru concluded.

"Yes," they replied in unison.

"Okay," he said.

"Guys, there's something I need to tell you," Ino's voice called out when she walked out of the tent to talk to the group circle.

Naruto, Shikamaru, and the others were looking at each other in concern and they glanced back at the white-blonde-haired kunoichi. She swallowed a hard lump in her throat and breathes out carefully to speak.

Later on, each partner was headed into eight different section areas of the forest. They were waiting for the clock to strike at midnight as they prepared themselves to fight with their weapons on their pouches.

"I should now open the first gate-" Lee didn't get to finish his sentence when Tenten hushed him out.

"Patience! Lee, didn't you listen?! We cannot make our move until Shikamaru makes a signal," Tenten muttered quickly. "Plus, the enemy is not even around yet."

"But I have to get ready. You know so that our plan will succeed," Lee whispered in desperation.

"No, our plan will flop out if you decided to use your technique at this moment. Don't even start," she hissed in a warning call.

"Alright, I won't," Lee sighed in disappointment and began to focus more at the front view that they were instructed to do.

On the other hand, Neji and Hinata were the first ones to examine their surroundings. He was on top of the treetops while she was on the other side. When they both saw the shadow signal, they knew that it was already 12 midnight. Then, they glanced at each other and nodded to proceed to the plan.

 _"BYAKUGAN!" They exclaimed in their minds. Small veins had shown in the corners of their eyelids in full concentration without breaking their contacts._

Shino releases his silent bugs out to find the enemies' current location as they were flying as quickly as possible in order to sense their presence.

"Got it," Shino said when his bugs returned to him inside the sleeves and continued on to explain. "It seems that they are coming."

"Okay, and at what approximate time they will be here? How many minutes?" Shikamaru asked in speculation.

"About five or ten. It depends how fast they are. Though, it's strange that they're moving at a regular pace," Shino stated and asked suspiciously. "Don't you think?"

"You're right. But if they are, then we need to move to the next step. Remind Naruto, Kiba, Tenten, and Lee about this before the others are going to attack," Shikamaru instructed.

"Understood," he replied as soon as the bugs came out of his sleeves and went to two different ways to contact the four team members.

Meanwhile, Naruto stood for three minutes and sighed in boredom. He then hopped onto the next treetop to see if there are any signs of a group arriving.

"Damn. Is it me or is this taking too long?" The blonde-haired asked impatiently.

"No, dude. It's just you and besides, you have to wait for Shikamaru and Shino. It's not the best idea if we just go after our enemies in this kind of situation," Kiba explained logically.

"Ugh. Fine," Naruto muttered and continued on. "But as Lady Tsunade said, we have to leave the island before dawn, remember?"

"Yeah. That's the point," Kiba said until the bugs appeared beside him and his eyes widened in surprise. "Wow."

"Hm? What did they say?" The blonde-haired ninja asked.

"We have to track them down in some ways. We just got to use our brain," the dark brown-haired ninja noted.

"Ah! Finally! Let's go!" Naruto held his fist in front and they both hopped down the tree branches, running at a quick pace.

Tenten and Lee, on the contrary, are still having a small argument until the rest of Shino's bugs flew beside them. They heard them and already understood the message.

"Right!" They both replied in unison.

"Let's go!" Tenten said in a hurry as they both started moving and was able to catch up with the others in just about four minutes.

"Yo! How are you two doing? You guys got the message, eh?" Naruto asked.

"Yup! We gotta hurry and there's no time to waste!" Tenten noted and the four of them went full speed ahead without even stumbling down off the tree branches.

However, their eyes widened in shock when they felt a sense of dark presence that gravitates their surroundings. They stopped for a moment to see who it was, but there was no sign of the person, trying to trick them.

 _"What the hell?! Wait a minute..." Kiba questioned in annoyance, whereas Akamaru was sniffing his nose around._

"Did you guys saw something? Because I clearly don't, except-" Naruto got interrupted when a familiar voice spoke out maliciously.

"You can feel where we are. Awww, that's too bad. I was thinking that I should play with you a little longer. Sadly, there's not enough time," the mysterious girl in a black hood stated.

Naruto and the others turned over their backs and saw her in puzzlement, including the two of her allies.

"Who are you?! And what are you doing here on this island?! Stop your nonsense or else, we'll bring down," The blonde-haired ninja yelled out.

"Well, well, well. The nine-tailed fox really does have grown quite a bit. I must say, my master will appreciate this kind of news," the White Zetsu said in amusement.

 _"What...? What is he talking about?" The blonde-haired ninja questioned in anger._

"What do you want?!" Tenten interrogated firmly as she prepares to pull out her kunai knives and shurikens, then quickly threw at them.

The enemies dodged her attacks and landed on the same spot again.

"Answer us, damn it!" Kiba demanded and made a few hand signs to perform his double edge Fang over Fang technique towards them.

But the mysterious girl stared intently at him, including his dog as she uses gravity to stop their movements. Then, she flung them with her arm out of her way, using poisonous gas.

Akamaru screamed out in terror when they both fell down on the ground. "Arrrgh!"

Kiba caught him in his arms in panic. "Nooo! You bastards!"

"This is not good!" Lee narrowed his eyes while observing their attacks and he began to charge and uses his Leaf Hurricane technique. Yet, he also failed when the white Zetsu disappeared into the tree branch.

The green-beast ninja made a backflipped and hopped into the top of the branches and looked down upon them, panting out of breath. "Crap!"

"Kiba! Lee! Are you guys okay?!" Tenten asked worriedly and clenched her fists as she was looking at the three opponents. _"Should I use my scrolls now...? I have no other choice."_ She pulled them out and summoned two twin dragons, which made roaring noises and went slithered their way to attack them.

The mysterious girl and the others kept dodging, but she got a small wound on her arm. She groaned in pain when she looked at the huge bite mark, dripping a few drops of blood out.

"Multi-Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed confidently as he started making a huge blue sphere on his right hand. Then, he jumped off the tree branch and began to hit them all. "RASENGAN!"

While the rest of his clones was distracting the enemies, the attack had wrecked the tree branches as they started to collapse down onto the ground.

"Ah. What a surprise," the white Zetsu said smirking sadistically until he couldn't move when he looked down to see a shadow controlling him like a puppet. "Huh?!"

"Indeed, it is," the jounin leader said smirking when he performed his own jutsu.

"It's only three of them," the Byakugan user stated with his arms crossed.

"Shikamaru, Neji!" Naruto, Lee, Tenten, and Kiba called out in unison.

"Looks like you are in trouble, but we've just arrived at the exact time," he said.

"Ugh. We need to finish them off, but Akamaru is..." Kiba noted as he was cradling his pet in concern.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get out of here now," Shikamaru instructed him.

"Right," Kiba nodded in agreement and teleported in a puff of smoke.

"Sheesh. How sweet. I guess there is such a thing as 'friends forever.' Heheh. Is it ready yet?" The mysterious girl asked one of the Akatsuki members beside her.

"Hmm. Yup! I will now activate it because art is an explosion!" Deidara widened his eyes wickedly when he raised his two fingers up in front of his face. The white bomb clay was on top of their heads as it was falling down like a balloon.

"About five seconds," the mysterious girl's lips curled into an evil smile at them and the three vanished out of their sight in a spiral wind of pink flower petals.

"GUYS! We got to move now!" Naruto warned as they all started making their way out of the area and ran as fast as they could.

"It's a trap!" Neji warned out loud.

"Shit...!" Shikamaru cursed under his breath.

Everyone started to run for their lives and hop onto different branches without even stopping.

Suddenly, the white bomb clay hit the ground. It was beginning to tremble and cracks the surface of the soil, which made a loud boom. A few of the forest trees were destroyed, but the island was still the same as always.

On the other hand, Ino raised up her head as her eyes widened at the sight of her friends running out of the forest and made their way on their ship, sailing away at the exact moment. All of them were panting out of breath.

"Guys! What happened?!" She exclaimed in shock.

"We'll explain it as soon as everyone is safe without having any injuries," Shikamaru panted out of breath and looked at Akamaru. "Well, except him and Sakura... How is she?"

Ino touched her forehead with her palm and looks up at them, shaking her head sadly.

"I see..." he murmured quietly.

"Hey... Just who was that girl with them? Why does her aura feel so familiar? It's almost as if it was..." Naruto stated as he looked over at the unconscious pink-haired kunoichi lying down in a blanket.

"Damn it! Those bastards..." Kiba glared at the island.

"I'm so depressed..." Tenten muttered in disappointment at herself.

"Hey, it's okay. At least, we know what they look like," Lee said positively.

"And yet, we don't know what they're planning. Again, they are an Akatsuki. So, we cannot defeat them right away," Neji noted logically as he closed his eyes with his arms crossed.

"Why are they following us?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"I don't know. One thing for sure is that they are not just after Naruto..." Shikamaru trailed off his words silently and continued on. "I'll explain everything to Lady Tsunade once we get home. By the way, where is Choji?"

"He's at the operation controlling system and eating chips," Ino clenched her teeth in exasperation.

"Okay, anyway. I know you guys are tired and it's difficult for us to enjoy our time with each other. But this is not going to be like this all the time. I knew there was something weird about that island, even Neji and Hinata can tell," Shikamaru said sternly.

"Now, what? What's next for us?" Kiba asked quietly, preventing himself from lashing out.

"I'll remind you what we are going to do. For now, you all need to take rest," Shikamaru instructed with a sigh.

"I'll treat Akamaru. He's been poisoned," Ino said.

"Do what you must," he nodded.

"I'll look after Sakura," Hinata noted, whereas the others head inside the rooms.

Naruto, on the other hand, approaches the Bykaguan kunoichi and sat down next to her in deep thought.

"Oh... Naruto, you alright? What is it?" She asked curiously.

"It's just... That girl... That girl in a black hood. She reminds me of someone..." The blonde-haired ninja said quietly.

"Really? Who?" Hinata questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe it's just a coincidence," Naruto muttered as he shook his head at the silly thought.

"Alright, well. The Akatsuki... I hope they are not going after you. They cannot take away the Nine-tails from you, you know," Hinata said worriedly.

"Hey, don't worry. I'll make sure of that," Naruto smiled as they both watched over Sakura's unconscious state peacefully.

Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, and Lee were in a room, discussing a few things that recently occurred.

"That girl... What's her status? Any idea?" He asked them curiously.

"She uses poisonous gas and gravity," Tenten answered after witnessing her attacks.

"I see..." Shikamaru said.

"I noticed that she's also wearing a necklace," Lee spoke out of thought.

"Interesting," Neji said in speculation. The four of them were wondering how the mysterious girl can move quickly just like the rest of them. However, they do not have a clue as to why she's suddenly involved with them.

Two days later, the pink-haired kunoichi fluttered her eyes slightly open and saw the ceiling. She slowly moves her head on the right side to see a window and onto her left was Lady Tsunade, Shizune and two of her friends.

"Good. You're finally awake, Sakura," the fifth Hokage said smiling.

"Uhh. What? Where... and why?" She asked mumbling in a raspy voice.

"Easy. Relax. You're just in a process of recovery. You cannot move until the next few hours. Your body may feel a little tingly, but it will be back to normal," Tsunade required with her hands on her hips.

"Good to see you again," Naruto said worriedly and chuckled lightly.

"At least, you are fine now," Shikamaru noted while smiling down at her.

"Hm... Where are the others?" Sakura asked blankly.

"They're home, apparently resting. But you'll meet them later," the blonde-haired ninja said.

"Right..." she said and was trying to recall her thoughts.

"Anyway, Shizune will be taking care of you and making sure you drink the medications and taking a few tests needed so that your body is in good shape," the fifth Hokage said.

"Wait, Tsunade. Aren't we going to tell her about what happened?" She asked worriedly.

"Not yet," she narrowed her eyes at her to be quiet and not mention it.

"Tell me what?" Sakura questioned in suspicion.

Naruto looked away in disappointment, whereas Shikamaru closed his eyes for a moment.

Tsunade, on the other hand, was sighing slowly and trying to wrap up her thoughts around, regards to how the pink-haired kunoichi suddenly passed out. "I'll explain it to you. But first, do not freak out over this. I promise you, it will get better."

Sakura narrowed her in puzzlement and confusion as she was waiting for her mentor to tell her the incident. And it was certain that she will not like what she will be hearing very soon...

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	3. New Mission

**Please read & review! :)**

* * *

"Remember when you were releasing your green chakra to a full extent? It somehow affected your ability to perform one of your healing technique, which leads you to collapse," Tsunade explained firmly.

"So, then? What?" The pink-haired kunoichi urged her to go on talking.

The fifth Hokage looked at her directly and said carefully. "Sakura, it appears that all of your powers are... no longer exist."

The pink-haired kunoichi' some eyes widened in a trauma and began to glisten nervously at her words. She breathes out with a gasp of astonishment and stuttered. "Ho-how... it can't be?! No... It's not... It's not possible!" She bowed her head down as her tears started to fall down on the white sheet of the blanket was clutching on tightly.

"I'm sorry... But the good news is that you still have an amount of chakra left within you," Tsunade reminded gently.

"When... When will they return, granny?" Naruto asked concernedly and continued on to rant. "Because it's not fair that she would lose them all and all of her hard work is for nothing! I mean, don't you think it's a little too much for her to handle-"

"Hey, calm down!" Shikamaru scolded him with a slight punch on his shoulder.

"Look, I know this may be frightening to you, but we do not know when your powers will return. As long as you have your physical strength back, then there is nothing for you to worry about, alright?" The fifth Hokage noted with a war, smile and walked up to the door, saying. "I have to go. I have an upcoming meeting in a few minutes. After that, I will be discussing a few things with you and the boys."

With that said, she closed the door and left quietly, whereas Shizune was preparing breakfast for Sakura.

"Here, you need to eat, so you could regenerate your energy," she said, bringing up the tray beside her.

"Thank you," the pink-haired kunoichi muttered with a curt nod as she started to chew a Veggie-Ham sandwich and drank water slowly.

"Wow. It's like you haven't eaten for months. I'm glad you're back," the blonde-haired ninja said chuckling and asked blankly. "So, are you feeling okay now?"

"Hmm. I'm fine," Sakura answered softly when she looked away from them. "I'm still shocked and..."

"Disappointed with the outcome? Yeah," Shikamaru guessed correctly and continued on. "Yesterday, it didn't turn out what we expected it to be. Although, we already saw it coming."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I'll explain it to you about everything on the island," the jounin leader cleared his throat and sat on the stool while he was talking across from the bed.

Naruto and Shizune, on the other hand, was listening intently at the details he was saying, much to Sakura's dismay.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jiraiya was finishing up a few drinks he ordered and stepped out of the bar building, saying cheerily. "Alrighty, see you again! Thanks for the good service!" He then glanced around with a smile and saw Kakashi leaning against the wall, reading one of the latest Make-Out tactics that he purchased. "Ah, good morning. What brings you here?"

The copy ninja closed the book with hand and answered. "Nothing. Just want to know how much you've been training with Naruto these past weeks. I haven't been with one of my students, except Sakura, Lee and the others."

"You miss him, eh? Well, I can tell that the kid has been very energetic and eager to master some of the jutsu that I know. One thing that he lacks is patience, but you know. It's alright since he is still learning how to control himself from lashing out. And by lashing out, I mean, unleashing the power of the nine-tailed fox... Aside from that, I heard that one of your strongest kunoichis went under the examination over the loss of powers," the white-haired legendary sanin said, remembering the memory.

"Yes, Sakura. She really had to experience that worst encounter. Luckily, Naruto and the rest of the squad were there to support her. But how is that possible that right after she collapsed, her prowess suddenly vanished for no reason?" Kakashi questioned in speculation.

"Aren't you aware by the fact that someone else was following them while they were on their way to the island of the Green Fantasia? It would be none other than the Akatsuki themselves," Jiraiya pointed out sternly while gazing off the distance as other people were passing by them.

"Well, Guy told me about the incident there. I'm just wondering how could a kunoichi lose their own powers while releasing an exact amount of chakra inside her body? Sakura's been training for these past two years in her life and all she ever wanted was to become stronger like Tsunade. She has goals and dreams for the future," Kakashi said quietly.

"Yeah. I know. It's very tough to go through all of those hardships at such a young age, especially Naruto. Those two surprisingly remind me of Tsunade and I back in the olden days," Jiraiya said smiling.

"No wonder why they've been raised a lot like from you both. As for Sasuke and Orochimaru, there's no doubt that they do not have similarities. They are almost like one and the same," Kakashi noted at that.

The white-haired legendary sanin sighed tiredly and said. "What can I say? It's astounding. They both left their home village and seeking revenge and power. You know, Team 7 wouldn't be the same if there's no fourth member."

The copy ninja asked curiously in deep thought. "If that's the case, are you suggesting that we should have a new member to join us? Tsunade hasn't made her decision yet."

"Duh. I know that. Sheesh. That woman gets on my nerves, sometimes. I even tried helping her to send messages to the other villages, but she refused since it's not my job to do so," Jiraiya said in exasperation and continued on. "Anyway, about Sakura, I'm certain that she will be fine."

Kakashi nodded in agreement silently as he pushed himself forward to stand up. "Well, I have to go meet up with the rest of the jounins. I'll talk to you later after Naruto's training."

"Okay. See you then! Oh, by the way, I forgot to give you this," Jiraiya said as he pulled out one of the light pink scrolls and tossed it forward to him, which Kakashi caught in his hand.

"What's this?" He asked in puzzlement.

"I'll tell you about it the next day. Toodles!" The white-haired legendary sanin waved in a gesture and started to walking away from the area and disappeared in a big puff of smoke.

Kakashi watched him drift apart and sighed lazily while looking down at the scroll upon his hand. Then, he shoved it inside his pouch and flashes out of the sight.

* * *

Later on in the afternoon at 2:00 pm, Sakura and the boys were standing in front of the fifth Hokage's desk after being summoned in her office.

"Awww, come on! Granny Tsunade, please give us a good one! That mission is too boring!" Naruto whined out loud while his both hands were gripping his head.

"Ugh! Stop complaining, will you?! She hasn't said anything, so hear her out!" Sakura nudged her elbow onto his right shoulder.

"Tsk. Hehe. Yeah, Naruto. You got to relax, man," Shikamaru chuckled as he shook his head and placed his left hand inside his pocket.

"You may have changed your height, but you haven't changed the level of your maturity," Tsunade clenched her teeth in annoyance when she folded her hands firmly together in front of her face, which includes a small vein popping in the corner of her forehead.

"Hehehe..." Shizune closed her eyes and laughed nervously while holding onto her pet pig.

"Anyway, what's the mission?" Shikamaru asked the fifth Hokage.

"Right. Well, recently, there's a news about a poisonous gas circling around the sand village and many citizens and shinobis have been infected by the toxic polluting the air. Now, I'll be assigning you three to head there and investigate further on that issue. The fifth Kazekage informed me about it while you were all away on the vacation trip," Tsunade described.

"Poison gas? Whoa, wait a minute. Isn't that strange that it also happened to Kiba's dog, Akamaru during our fight with the Akatsuki?" Shikamaru asked for clarification. "It mostly rings a bell, don't you think?"

"Yes. That is why you three must do everything you can to figure out the root of the problem. I'm also not surprised that they will be attacking two places on the same day unless they have some sort of backup," the fifth Hokage thought out logically.

"Hold on! Does it mean they're after me or they are just messing around just to scare us?" Naruto asked anxiously, gesturing his hands out.

"Possibly, but again, Naruto... We do not know what they are planning, so if I were you, I wouldn't underestimate them. They can outsmart you in any kind of situations," Tsunade ordered straightforwardly.

"Yeah, Naruto. Don't be reckless and I understand your frustration. But please..." Sakura touched him lightly with her left hand on his shoulder for reassurance. "You don't want to lose everything you have in you, do you?"

The blonde-haired ninja stared at her deeply into her eyes sadly and sighed, saying with a smile. "Okay... Fine. I won't hasten myself. But still, I just want to do better and I know I cannot do it alone. I'm sorry if you don't have your powers. I promise you, it will."

The pink-haired kunoichi paused for a moment while looking at him and gave him a curt nod. "Right."

Tsunade spoke out gently with encouragement. "Then, we are all set. You guys know what to do, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," they replied formally in unison.

"Good, you can now leave," the fifth Hokage slammed her hands down and leaned back in her chair to relax.

"Okay, see you, Lady Tsunade," Sakura waved farewell as she walked towards the door.

"Thanks, granny," Naruto grinned and followed along with his best friend on the way out.

"Oh, by the way, is there something you want to give me, Lady Tsunade?" Shikamaru asked blankly.

"Yes. Shizune," the fifth Hokage commanded near her right side.

Her assistant walked up to the jounin leader and hands him the light pink scroll.

"What is it, though?" Shikamaru asked curiously, examining it.

"Jiraiya will be explaining it to you and Kakashi about these. They are very risky once you will be using it later on," Tsunade said smiling and continued on. "Trust me."

Shikamaru looked at the scroll awkwardly and said. "Alrighty, I don't know, but I'll do what you instructed."

"Excellent. That is why I chose you to join Kakashi's team for a temporary emergency. Remember, be careful on the way to the village because I know someone there couldn't wait to see you," Tsunade smirked secretively at him.

Shizune giggled and tries not to laugh along with her boss.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, blushed in embarrassment and huffed. "Ugh, jeez. Don't even bring that up! I'm leaving. This is going to be such a drag."

He then quickly walks away with his cheeks tinged in pink and left the office as soon as possible.

"Wait, Tsunade. Are you sure that those kids will succeed and come back home safely?" Shizune asked worriedly.

"Hey, I've known them for quite decades now. Of course, they are strong and I know for a fact that Sakura will gain something much, much better," Tsunade smiled at the thought of her student. "As her mentor, I believe in her. She has a potential and is capable of doing everything she can to protect her loved ones."

Shizune nodded in agreement and beamed happily at that. Both of them know that the pink-haired kunoichi and the group will not fail the mission this time.

* * *

TO _BE CONTINUED..._


	4. Friendly Date

**Please read & review! :)**

* * *

The following two days came when Team 7 had been traveling across the empty desert, bringing extra water bottles around their waists and food with them. It was always important to all shinobi who are walking from a different land and to the other by foot. The sun was starting to boil heatedly in the area when one of them spoke out.

"Man, I'm hungry and thirsty! It's best that we eat," Naruto suggested as he sat down on top of the big, flat-squared rock.

"I suppose it won't be a big deal, trying to have a lunch meal," Shikamaru panted his breath out.

"Yeah. I mean, we've been roaming for miles now," Sakura agreed.

"Okay," Shikamaru sighed as he dropped his bag down and sat on the sandy ground, whereas Sakura was pulling out the packed lunches and snacks from her bags near the distance from him.

"If you guys want Dorayaki, Ponsuke Arare crackers, Jagabee fries or Japanese sweet potato UHA chips, you can take one of these. They are really delicious, trust me," the pink-haired kunoichi said, holding the snacks in front of them one-by-one.

"Yooo! Pass me the crackers, please!" Naruto exclaimed, hungrily looking at it.

Suddenly, a loud boom crashed heavily as the ground started to crumble out. Beneath the sand reveals a huge purple monster, known as the Shard Scorpius, clinging its claws out, much to the others' astonishment. The screeching noise was made from the top of its lungs and saw three people standing by. The Scorpius' eyes gleamed brightly as it made its target towards them at a quick pace.

"Crap... Not this again," Shikamaru muttered lazily.

"You've encountered this before?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Yes, I did. It's obviously a big pain in the ass," he scoffed shortly.

"Gee! Now, this is the moment for me to redeem all of my techniques! Alright!" Naruto pumped up his fist in the air.

"Hold on, Nau! We can't just jump right in to attack," the pink-haired kunoichi lectured in a hiss.

"Yeah, And the more we underestimate it, the less time we get to defeat the monster," Shikamaru stated correctly.

The Scorpius began to charge towards Sakura by crawling its legs forward and screeched louder. The pink-haired kunoichi pulled out her kunai knife as she defended herself, but Naruto summoned multiple shadow clones around him as they all started hovering the top of the monster's head. They were giving hardcore punches and kicks vigorously against the creature's body without even stopping. Although, it has no effect on it whatsoever when the Scorpius decided to grip the shadow clones with his sharp claw and squished them into pieces. But they end up puffing out of smoke.

Naruto, on the other hand, was making his blue chakra ball with his other shadow clone and attacks the monster. "RASENGAN!"

The Scorpius fell backward when it got some scratches around its body. Then, it stood up quickly and was preparing to create its own green saliva in its mouth, forming a huge drop of sticky gum. Its narrowed eyes were glinting wickedly and spit out the liquid landing towards Naruto, who quickly dodged out of the way.

"Acid...?!" The blonde-haired ninja questioned in shock.

"Yeah! We got to be careful, it will keep spitting out around for a few seconds," Shikamaru warned.

"I see," Sakura said in understanding when she noticed that the Scorpius was heading towards their direction.

The monster jumped and started clawing its tentacles viciously. They all dodged its attacks, but then quickly scratched Sakura's legs, bleeding a few drops of blood onto the sandy ground.

The pink-haired kunoichi began to jab her fists on the creature's arms and knelt her right leg upward, using the amount of chakra inside her. She disappeared from her position, replacing a log that the monster was trapping her in. So, it started to move onto the next step when the Scorpius was trembling its body and shrill its voice out, echoing the sound through the desert without stopping.

The three ninjas covered their ears from the ugly noise that the monster was making. They dropped onto their knees, yet Shikamaru was able to perform his own jutsu against the creature.

The shadow was looming over the sand as it reaches its body. But then, the Scorpius turned around and smiled, which almost caught Shikamaru off guard.

"What the...?" Shikamaru murmured with his eyes wide open in shock.

The monster extended his tail hastily and wagged him off like a fly.

"Ugh..!" The jounin leader groaned in pain.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed in unison.

"Shit..." The blonde-haired was now running towards the creature and releases his own chakra to perform another jutsu, summoning another extra few shadow clones. He leaped on the air and attacked the Scorpius with his Thousand Combo technique. Again, it did not faze out and decided to dig underneath the ground, hiding back in its own place.

Naruto and Sakura were panting out of breath slowly and wonder what will happen next.

Shikamaru spoke out tiredly. "It's gone. But it will come back up again when its probably looking for some prey to devour."

"Ugh. Geez! We could've just crushed it with a weapon or a boulder," Naruto exasperated.

"Well, it doesn't work that way. It must have some specific type of weakness," Sakura noted lightly.

"Anyway, we cannot stay here for long. If we do, there will be more creatures popping out of nowhere. Trust me, it ain't pretty," Shikamaru instructed.

"What about the food and the snacks?" Naruto asked frowning.

"It's okay. Just leave it, so they have enough to eat," the jounin leader said and turned his back around to start walking. "Let's go."

"Right," the two ninjas both agreed in unison as they carried their bags along with them and follows him to the direction that they were heading.

Meanwhile inside the sand village had most people stay indoors due to the purple toxic gas polluting the surroundings, which had been going on for five days straight. Some people built tunnels underground in order for them to work, earn money and exchanging items and other goods to their customers.

At the Kazekage tower conference room is currently in a meeting session. Baki and the other councilors were dealing with the latest issue that they have with the chemical substance spreading across town.

"Sir, there's not enough water ninja user who can get infiltrate the polluted air in our village," one of the elderly men said and continued on. "It's best if we hire one from the land of waves or water and contact them immediately."

"Are you certain? They're all assigned to different missions and they cannot help us at this moment," the eldest woman noted.

"I suppose we can find one, regardless of their status; genin, chunin, or jounin. It doesn't matter, as long as this problem doesn't stay for longer. We cannot put the citizens' lives in danger," Baki stated while Kankuro and Temari were listening near him.

"What do you think, Lord Kazekage? Any suggestions?" The elderly man asked concernedly.

Gaara, on the other hand, opened his eyes and said firmly. "The fifth Hokage has made her decision and we both came into an early agreement. She is sending the best three shinobi from her list and they are on their way here in ten minutes."

"But how are they going to eliminate the toxic gas? I mean, according to their profiles, it seems that none of them can extinguish the air-" One of the men with a brown mustache didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Don't underestimate them. Of course, they don't. But I believe they have all the potential to make sure that everyone is well safe and protected," the red-haired Kazekage reminded strictly with his hands folded and elbows rested on top of the surface desk.

"Alright, fine. If that's the case, we will be expecting good results from this," the man said with a curt nod.

"Good. Now, that's settled. This meeting is over," Baki declared as everyone got up from their chairs and left the room to go back to their offices and continue their work. "Good job, guys. I'll talk to you later." He patted Kankuro's shoulder and waved a gesture at them as he was walking down the hallways.

"Hey, Gaara. What time they will get here? They're supposed to be arriving at this hour," the older brother chirped as he puts his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, it's almost been eight months since the last time we saw them. I miss seeing their faces, you know," Temari said smiling and glanced slightly at his younger brother.

"Suuurree, Tem. Maybe it's, ahem... You know who, the smart Shika-" Kankuro got interrupted when his older sister whacked his head with her fan.

"Ugh. Shut up," the older sister clenched her teeth in annoyance and tries not to blush.

"Soon," the red-haired Kazekage answered.

"Hmm?" Both of his siblings were puzzled until they realized what he meant.

"They'll be here soon," Gaara said smiling warmly at the thought of his friends.

Later on, Team 7 had finally arrived at the main entrance of the sand village and they noticed that there is a huge purple gas circling around the buildings, much to their shock.

"Woah. I did not expect that it could be this foggy," Shikamaru muttered.

"This is horrible," Sakura frowned at the sight.

"Wait, Shikamaru. How are we going to get inside then? We don't have an access or something," Naruto rambled out.

"Yes, we do. It's here in this map," the jounin leader said as he was holding up the geometric paper in front of him and examined the route. "Okay, it says we have to walk up to the left corner where the guards are and find a red button to open a tunnel."

"I see. So, where are they?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I don't know. They're supposed to be here, but I guess they're probably inside the bottom of the tunnel way," Shikamaru noted and scrolls the map inside his right pocket of the bag. "Come on, we have no time to waste. Apparently, they will be waiting at the hospital where most people were at since they are infected by the gas as you can see."

"Right," Naruto and Sakura both nodded in agreement.

They ran up to the left corner and pressed the red button, just like what the map is drawn out.

About thirty minutes have passed, Kankuro and Temari were checking over the bodies of the victims and asks the doctors and nurses if there's anything they can do to remove the poison out.

"The only thing that we can do to treat them is injecting the herbal medicine into their arms. It will wash over the substance out, but it won't permanently heal them entirely," the medical nurse explained.

"Ah, jeez. This is ridiculous. You're kidding me, right ma'am? Is that all you can do? I mean, you are a nurse and getting paid for shit-" Kankuro complained in frustration until Temari shushed him out.

"Hey, chill! Don't be so mean. Look, ma'am. You can go back to work. You did the best you can. Thanks for the info," the pony-tailed kunoichi nodded respectfully at the medical nurse, who started walking away with a nod. Then, she faced her brother with her eyes narrowed. "Kankuro... Will you relax? You almost hurt her feelings! She's been working all day and night in this hospital. Man up."

"Ugh. Alright, I'm just pissed that none of them is back to normal these past few days," the purple-faced ninja huffed.

"I know. But the others will be here soon," Temari nodded in understanding.

Then, they both heard the door slide open, which appears to be Baki and Team 7.

"We're here, guys," their mentor stated with a smile.

"Hey, Shikamaru! Naruto! Sakura!" Kankuro called out in a greeting.

Temari's eyes widened in surprise and smiled happily at them until her eyes landed on Shikamaru. She paused and greeted as well, saying. "Hey, long time no see!"

"Kankuro, Temari!" Sakura ran up to them and hugged them comfortingly as they did the same for her.

"It's been a while," Naruto grinned at Kankuro.

"Yep. It has been," the purple-faced ninja said smirking.

"So where's Gaara? He's not with you?" the blonde-haired ninja asked blankly.

"No. He has some sort of discussion," Kankuro answered quietly as he secretly looked at Temari, who gave him the reaction of not to tell.

"Discussion?" Sakura questioned in peculiar.

"That's a surprise. He's usually quiet and formal when he's around," Shikamaru said chuckling in amusement.

"Yeah, um. Well, you see. It's very important," Temari said laughing nervously and continued on. "Anyway, I really need to go back to my work and figure out a way to remove the contamination with the others."

"Right. Well, I'm going with you since both of the Kages have instructed us to do our parts," Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

"Okay, you two can come with me. We have other issues to talk about," Baki ordered as he exits the doorway, following Shikamaru and Temari with him.

"I want to see Gaara first," Sakura said to Kankuro.

"I'm with ya," Naruto agreed.

"Actually, maybe later once he's done with the discussion," the purple-faced ninja rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Oh, please. We don't believe that crap. Come on, Sakura. Let's go meet up with him, yah?" Naruto ignored Kankuro's advice and encouraged his best friend to go and visit him.

"Hmm. Sure. Sorry, Kankuro. You're going to have to wait for a bit. But I'll come back as soon as possible and help the people here," the pink-haired kunoichi said reassuringly and both of them ran up to the door and left as soon as possible.

The purple-face ninja said in a warning. "Okay, but be careful. Don't get yourselves contaminated on the way!"

They closed the door shut and had him sighing tiredly as he watches the doctors and nurses taking care of the patients.

 _"This is not going to be pretty..." Kankuro said in mind, staring off into space._

In just about 20 minutes, Naruto and Sakura had crossed two different tunnels underneath the ground without stopping for a break. They've asked one of the guards and they told them that the fifth Kazekage is at a sushi restaurant. Then, they thanked him and head towards the left route of the location.

Once they reached their destination, they saw the ladder and climbed up the hole. They closed the lid and looked around the main lobby to ask the receptionist on the desk.

"Excuse me? Is Gaara in the list?" The blonde-haired asked urgently.

"Yes. You're Naruto Uzumaki right?" The receptionist guy recognized him and the pink-haired kunoichi happily. "And you're Sakura Haruno. One of the strong kunoichi that other people are talking about."

The pink-haired kunoichi chuckled lightly and said. "Really? Wow. I never knew that."

"Yeah. Alright, so he's at the section B area inside the room," the guy said smiling.

"Gee. Thanks!" Naruto said gleefully and hurried on his way down the hallway and opens the door.

"Thanks again," Sakura nodded with a warm smile.

"You're welcome," the receptionist guy said as his cheeks tinged in light pink.

Then at that moment, Naruto was walking through the tables where business people were having meals and saw Gaara talking with another girl across from him.

The blonde-haired ninja stood frozen in his spot. He was surprised until the pink-haired kunoichi went up with him and her eyes landed on the two having dinner.

"Gaara...?" Naruto voiced out in a minimum tone.

The fifth Kazekage glanced at his left shoulder and recognized him and Sakura with his eyes wide open. "Naruto and..."

"Hi..." The pink-haired kunoichi said softly.

"Sakura. Nice to see you again," Gaara smiled gladly in relief and introduces the girl on the right. "This is my long time friend, Katsumi."

"Hi, are you guys dating?" The dark brunette girl asked grinning.

Naruto and Sakura chuckled ridiculously at that statement.

"That's funny, we never dated," the blonde-haired ninja said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, to think we will," the pink-haired kunoichi remarked calmly.

"I see. Well, just to let you know that Gaara and I are on a date," Katsumi replied with a giggle.

"A Date?" Sakura asked frowning while staring at the red-haired Kazekage.

"Obviously, but isn't that more of a discussion, just like what Kankuro and Temari mentioned?" Naruto questioned further at his friend.

"Yes... It is," Gaara said quietly and stared at the pink-haired kunoichi, checking to see if there's anything wrong.

"Hm. It's a friendly date for now. Um, shall we continue to discuss our issue?" Katsumi asked smirking.

 _"What does she mean 'for now'?" Sakura interrogated annoyingly in mind._

"Sure. Anyway, I will meet you guys later tonight after the dinner," the red-haired Kazekage noted.

"You got it, Gaara," Naruto grinned happily and continued on. "Man, it's good to see you well again. We both missed ya, right Sakura?"

"Haha... Yeah. Indeed," the pink-haired kunoichi said still smiling and nodding in agreement. But deep down inside, she wasn't happy at what she had saw. She wanted to know if there is anything going on between Gaara and Katsumi. She doesn't know why she was feeling this way and she couldn't tell whether if she was jealous over them or perhaps, she was starting to complicate her own feelings.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	5. Hidden Keys

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* * *

The next morning came when Sakura and the rest of the group were giving medical assistance to the citizens and shinobi. She goes to different spots one at a time to cure the sickness and extract the poison out of their bodies.

"I'm here to express my gratitude for your hard work, Miss Haruno," a 40-year old mother said tearfully in joy. "You saved me and my son."

"Thank you so much," the brown-eyed boy beamed cheerily at her.

"Haha. You're very welcome. It's myduty to make sure that everyone is in good health," the pink-haired kunoichi reminded gently.

"Hm. You really are one of Lady Tsunade's wonderful apprentice. You both have phenomenal healing skills," the young man said smiling in giddiness, much to most people's agreement.

"Yeah! You are the best!" One of the young men called out when everyone in the room started clapping in applause.

Sakura laughed nervously and swatted her hand slyly, saying. "Hehe. Thanks, guys. I appreciate that."

"It seems that the medical kunoichi is diligent and busy these several hours," a familiar voice said smirking coolly.

"Kankuro. You're here. Aren't you supposed to go on rounds with Temari?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked curiously.

"Well, I am. I'm just taking a 15-minute break. It's tiring to always check the air conditioning vent, gas pipes, doors, and glass windows to be completely shut closed. Of course, the outside is under the investigation of how the poisonous gas started," Kankuro explained thoughtfully with his fist holding up his chin.

"I see... After this, I can go with you guys," Sakura said.

"Unfortunately, you can't. As much as we want to, Kazekage Gaara has assigned you to a differenttask with Naruto. Since he is not available to go with you guys, he expects you two to find evidence," the purple-faced ninja pursed his lips firmly.

"Alright. No problem," Sakura closed her eyes with a smile that almost faltered.

"Great! Now, I'm going to go and informed him about this. Thanks, pinky," Kankuro said as he gave her a small pat on the shoulder. He turned around and told the others that he will be back to see the results later. He slid the door and closed it behind him, leaving Sakura in her own thoughts.

"I don't understand..." the pink-haired kunoichi frowned in mind.

"Miss Haruno, we already completed the third step of the lung transplant procedure," one of the medical nurses informed her formally while holding onto the check board list. "Shall we move it now?"

"Yes. Prepare the surgical instruments and activate the CT-scanners, STAT," the pink-haired kunoichi instructed softly as she head towards the three patients at the back of the room along with the nurse behind her.

Inside one of the tunnels, Temari has been checking the pipes using her own flashlight and one of the miners stopped by to ask her.

"Hey, ma'am. Is there anything that you need help with?" He looked at her blankly.

"Hmm. Yeah, I'm good. I'm trying to ensure that none of the toxic gas infiltrates through this tunnel and the rest," Temari answered as she began to look at him and question. "By the way, do you and your co-workers have any idea how it started transmitting our village?"

"No. Sorry. But there is someone that we saw the moment before this dilemma began," the miner said thoughtfully.

"Okay, go on," Temari urged him to explain.

"I was with my other friend six days ago at someplace. It's really huge than this small tunnel. More like a cavern," he stated in details and continued on. "We were digging some coals and other pieces of rocks there until we saw something strange in the midst. It's black."

"Black? In what shape or form?" Temari asked suspiciously.

"I don't know. Hiding is a place for people to go to, but they always come by to surprise," the miner quoted as he started whistling and continues to push the coal cart with him. "See you later, ma'am."

"Alright. Thanks for the info," Temari said, waving farewell at him and sighed.

"So I guess there is something erratic going on," Kankuro said quietly.

The ponytail-haired kunoichi glanced around and faces her brother, saying. "Yeah, well... I don't know if Gaara will believe this from us if we told him about what the miner had said before."

"You're right. He sometimes doubts other people's words since he prefers to see their more of actions," the purple-faced ninja noted.

"I suppose. But what are we going to do? I mean, Sakura is occupied on medical treatments for the people. And Naruto and Shikamaru have already been assigned to join the H2O crew to eliminate the gas," Temari mentioned.

"Well, it leaves us no choice then," Kankuro said when he started to smirk intently with an idea popped into his head.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Temari asked him and continued on, saying tiredly. "Oh, jeez. If it's one of your sneaky schemes, I certainly will not tolerate that."

"Hey, hey, hey. Relax, Tem. It's not. Alright? Listen, the only thing we have to do is figure out where and how we can get through that place," the purple-faced ninja whispered quietly and continued on. "The miner did mentioned something about a cavern, right? So that must be where the gas is coming from."

"Right. But again, we do not know what's inside that place. Nobody has gone there since 32 decades ago. If we go in there, obviously we might get lost. It's crumbled into pieces of mess and all ancient history, Kankuro," Temari pointed out logically.

"How do you know for sure if the cavern has been collapsed? You can't just guessed and make that a fact," Kankuro stated correctly.

"And what do you think that we can do? Just goo in there without having Gaara's permission?" The ponytail-haired kunoichi questioned firmly.

"That's the first. And second, we are just going to do some research on what this cavern is all about. If those things that you said are right, then we can still find a way. If not, then we got to wing it," the purple-faced ninja suggested.

"And how are we going to do the research? We don't have books. Almost the traditional ones are not significant in today's history," the ponytail-haired kunoichi said.

"But some of them are being kept, regardless of how old or new they are, which is why I know..." Kankuro said smirking.

"Know what?" Temari asked in puzzlement and confusion until she stared at him for a few seconds when she realized what he had already discovered and warns him. "No... You didn't actually sneak into one of Gaara's rooms, did you? They are monitored 24/7 if anyone tries to go in. He will ground you if you touched one of his books. They are private."

"Hey. All I had to do was disguised as one of his security guards. It's not difficult to do that. Plus, there's no way that Gaara would ground me. Come on, he may be the Kazekage, but he will still be a little brother to me, ya know," Kankuro chuckled in amusement.

"Ugh. I swear, if anything goes shitty, I will definitely hunt you down. You know what, let's try this plan of yours," Temari sighed as she raised an eyebrow dully.

"Okay! Good! Now, let's finish this rounds as quickly as possible," Kankuro beamed with a secret smirk.

Just when they started patrolling around the tunnels for couple minutes, the clock strike for half an hour at noon, which was lunchtime.

The next thing that the two older siblings went is attempting to sneak in one of younger brother's rooms. From there, both of them

were trying to find the history book that was kept away by their red-haired Kazekage.

Kankuro and Temari disguised as one of the guards and decided to use a justu that will make them invisible to eyes of others, including Gaara's third eye. They got themselves covered completely with blankets individually.

Inside the room, Kankuro was checking the book shelves and table drawers on the corner hastily while Temari was helping him out.

"Damn. You sure this is going to work?" The ponytail-haired kunoichi asked doubtedly.

"Temari... Trust me. It's somewhere in here. I just forgot where he put that book," Kankuro replied impatiently, rummaging through the documents and materials carefully. He looked up at the ceiling and noticed that there was a keyhole near to the lighting area. "Hey... Maybe, it's on the top."

"Jeez. We need a key," Temari gazed at him annoyingly.

"Shit... Hold on. I can use my homemade ones," Kankuro said grinning as he slowly pulled out the stick with a signature key and placed it on the hole correctly.

The lid slid opened and they both hopped onto the desk and hovered right inside the area itself as they started to glanced around the attic.

"Say... This is Gaara's another room," Temari muttered in awe at the beautiful display.

"Yeah, it's very vibrant alright and plus he even has kept a journal himself. Anyway, before we get into that, the history book is just on that book shelf right there on the second row," Kankuro pointed to the direction as they walked over to it. He pulled it out and started skimming over the pages until he reaches onto the middle one where it has all the mysterious 7 locks.

"What are those? They're so bright. I could barely see what's in them," Temari asked curiously in surprise.

Kankuro answered gently. "Yeah... Those are the hidden keys."

"Wait, what are they doing in there, then?" She asked suspiciously.

He replied as they both continue to stare at the keys without even breaking their contact on them. "That's what we are about to find out."

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	6. Bad Behaviour

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* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto, Shikamaru, and the rest of the H2O crew had been assembling the tubes by connecting them with the other. They were all standing on top of the flat surface of the sandy mountain while wearing their oxygen masks on, including the safety goggles. This was only for the case of emergency.

"Alright. Is everyone ready to water down all of the gas?" Baki asked for reassurance.

"Hmm. Yes, sir!" They nodded firmly in unison.

"Good. Now, hold on tight in your positions!" Baki commanded strictly out loud.

"Shit. What if this plan won't work? We got to use our own jutsu," Naruto whispered quietly to Shikamaru behind him.

"Oh, light up, will ya? Definitely it will. You got to trust the process," the leaf jounin leader stated carefully with a slight chuckle.

"Trust the process?! Pfft. My ass," the blonde-haired ninja muttered scornfully under his breath in his mask.

"Ahem. Is there a problem, boys?" Baki questioned as he approached beside them.

"Ahh! No, no, sir Baki," Naruto's eyes startled when he motioned his hand back and forth and laughed nervously.

"Hehe. We are just waiting to drench the air contamination, you know," Shikamaru said formally and secretly narrowed his eyes at the blonde-haired ninja to not comment any further.

"In about thirty seconds or so. And after this, it will all be over. Okay, everyone. Listen up," Baki called out to get their attention and continued on. "Once all of the five remaining seals are activated, you must saturate the bottom of this village, which is at the exact same time as the rest of the other crews around these mountains. Each five seals contains purified liquid suffusion, making it 20 times bigger and double amount of its capacity. We don't have time to waste, so I expect that we should all work together and end this horrid mess. Quit slacking off or else I will sue your asses down. In other words, I will take good beatings on you. Heh. Just kidding. No, but seriously, if you do not concentrate on this task, you will lose your title or position as a shinobi. Now, when the timer goes off in ten seconds, I'll blow the air horn when you open the water hoses."

"Right!" Everyone replied strongly in accordance.

"Okay, get ready! Five, four, three, two, one!" Baki held up the air horn on the front of the crew and blared it noisily. "GOO!"

Naruto, Shikamaru, and the rest of the shinobi started to cry out in rally as they hose down the water all over the buildings while the seals had started to switch on and released a huge splashes of water like a rainfall.

"Wooahh!" They gasped in amazement as they grinned happily and continued on to eliminate all the toxic gases out of the areas permanently until the very last drop of the hoses.

Back in the attic, Kankuro and Temari started to travel down the tunnels without notifying their younger brother about their whereabouts. One of them was holding the map while the other is reading the history book with the keys inside it.

"This is so fun. We never have this kind of adventure," the purple-faced ninja said snickering.

"Ugh. Oh, please. I'm certain that we are much more in trouble for doing this gimmick," Temari noted, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see. Okay, so the cave is just right around the hallway of our tunnel area," Kankuro said, pointing out the direction from the map.

"Wait, shouldn't we also retrace our steps back in case we might gone astray?" Temari mentioned and continued on. "If we do, we have to put light marbles on the ground."

With that said, she laid down every pieces of balls as they continue to walk silently as possible. Once they've reached the door of the cave, they decided to stopped by and think for a second.

"Hold on. Before we go in, we have to make sure that we prepare ourselves," the purple-faced ninja noted as scrolled up the map and shoved it in his bag.

The ponytail-haired kunoichi sighed tiredly and admitted impressively. "Wow, you really are into this kind of arrangement. I must say, I'm proud to have you as a brother."

"Yeah. Thanks for the compliment," Kankuro grinned with a curt nod.

"Okay, anyway. Let's peek in," Temari said as she stick her kunai knife through the wall to make a small dotted holes for them to view the indoors.

Both of them had their eyes focused on the inner cave and the first thing that they saw was very ominous form of convention. There were dark purple aura circling around the red circle, which happens to be an offering.

"What the fuck is that...?" Kankuro cursed slowly under his breath with his eyes widened in horror.

Inside the cave shows three black figures discussing their plan.

"Deidara, I'm advising you to capture her as soon as possible. If all else fails, I will absolutely destroy you and you wouldn't be able to breathe, do you understand?" The mysterious girl asked for his expected answer.

"Ugh. Yes, yes. I'll do it. But what about you? Shouldn't you also be obliterating the heads of those leaf and sand shinobi? Don't forget about where you came from, hmm. I, the artist, will be erupting one of my biggest masterpieces of art. They will like the surprise, yeah," the blonde-haired Akatsuki member nodded arrogantly with his arms crossed.

"Ah. Well, be careful with that. You might lose another arm," the white Zetsu chuckled in amusement and continued on with a sigh, saying. "The master will be pleased to hear this news once we unleash our powers that will destroy every human being. You, my lady, are amazing."

The mysterious girl laughed proudly and said. "Of course. Plus, this will be a perfect treat for that pink-haired bitch."

The three of them began to laugh wickedly as they continued forward to talk over their strategies.

"This is going to be bad..." Temari said strongly as she tries not to panic and guessed what it was. "A sacrifice?!"

"Oh, shit!" Kankuro swore in a whisper and tries to figure out who the mysterious girl is until he noticed a light strand of hair that naturally fell from the side of her neck, dawning him into realization. "That can't be..."

"Huh?! What are you talking about? Hey, Kankuro. What did you see?" Temari asked when his brother pointed out towards the girl. Then, her eyes began to widened in disbelief and shock at who she truly is. "Impossible..."

Later on in the afternoon, the medical nurses and doctors were taking an hour break while Sakura continues to work restlessly by curing the patients' wounds and injuries. A few of the workers noticed something strange happening to her and they have no idea what it is, so one of them politely asks her.

"Uh... Miss Haruno, are you sure that you don't need take a moment to have a break? I mean, you've been working so hard nonstop lately and your eyes haven't been blinking for quite sometime now," the medical doctor guy said laughing nervously at her unusual state until he froze in his spot as he watches her shaking involuntarily. "Miss Haruno? Are you feeling alright?"

Sakura stood up from her chair and lift it up using both arms and threw it across the wall as it broke slightly almost in half, much to the others' fear and dismay. The patients began to move away further from her since she started losing self-control.

Her eyes turned bright red as she started yelling at one of the nurses. "Just mind your own business!"

"Woah, miss Haruno... Hold on. You must be out of-" the medical doctor stuttered nervously.

"WHAT?! You got a problem with me?! You know I'm sick and tired of y'all complaining about your health," Sakura growled angrily as she grabbed one of the medical instruments that appears to be a knife. She held it down and started walking towards him, whereas the others started running away screaming for help and in motion.

"Miss! Please calm down! You must take a rest! Don't take your anger on a few of the ill-patients-" One of the medical nurses pleaded.

"Shut up! I don't care!" The pink-haired kunoichi shouted with a low tone of her voice, which seems to be strange and unusual. Her eyes were still glowing bright red.

Outside the hospital receptionist desk, the medical kunoichi was calling for a quick emergency using her telepathic mind.

"Sir! We need your help! Apparently, Miss Haruno has lost control and she's been taking out tantrums on her patients," she ranted out.

"What room?" He asked sternly.

"Eh. Section room B14," the nurse answered. "Please hurry!"

"Alright, I'll be on my way," he said as he untouched the right side of his temple and formed his hand a tight fist on his table.

He then stood up from his chair and flew out of his office with his dark brown cape on like a swish vanish and drops a small cherry blossom origami paper on the floor.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	7. Tough Luck

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* * *

This issue of the purple toxic gas has finally been resolved. Thanks to Baki and the rest of the H2O crew members. Everyone is now safe to go out in the village," one of the elderly men said gladly.

"Oh, thank goodness. That is the need that I've been waiting to hear," the elderly woman sighed in relief.

"Wait, did they already figured out how the air contamination got leaked?" A dark blue-haired councilor questioned in puzzlement.

"Yeah, where did it came from?" One of the young women urged him curiously.

"There's no recent statement report back yet, but the two jounin leaders, Kankuro and Temari, will be informing us," the elderly man answered.

Suddenly, the door slammed open out loud when the messenger decided to speak out hurriedly.

"Sir! There's a little bit of trouble," he said overwhelmingly.

"Hmmm? What is it?" The elderly man asked sternly.

"One of the medical nurses at the hospital informed me that a certain kunoichi named Sakura Haruno has allegedly attempted to harm her patients and threaten the coworkers," he explained.

"What?! That's completely absurd. No kunoichi will ever commit such a reckless act," the elderly woman gasped in shock.

"Seemingly, she may have lost her control," the elderly man sighed tiredly and narrowed his eyes directly at the messenger, asking. "Speaking of which, where is the fifth Kazekage? Does he know about this?"

"Y-yes, sir! He's on his way there to stop the commotion," the messenger nodded.

"Good. Soon, we will eventually hear out those reasons," the elderly man said, pursing his lips while staring off into space.

"Excuse me," a familiar voice muttered behind the messenger as she and her brother made their way to the front.

"Kankuro! Temari! What took you both so long? Did you finished all the rounds?" The dark blue-haired man asked in surprise.

"Yeah, we did. Anyway, we've discovered something down in one of the tunnels," the purple-faced ninja said as he moved his eyes to the right to look at him.

"Oh? Is it about the gas leak?" The young woman questioned curiously.

"No. It's about a cave, which you may have not known yet," the ponytail-haired kunoichi noted.

"A cave? I've seen one, but it's only for the mining," one of the young men mentioned out loud from his seat.

"Hmm," the others agreed in unison with a curt nod.

"Well, just to let you know. It's not that one, though. It's a different cave and we took a peek inside of it. It appears that there's the purple gas circling around the black figures," Kankuro stated quietly.

"Black figures... So I assume that someone is in there or perhaps, a group," the elderly man said rhetorically.

"Yes. They're standing in front of the circle, discussing some plan that they are going to undertake. They were making some sort of ritual..." Temari clenched her teeth awkwardly.

"Who are they?! They might be the ones who emanated the entire village!" The dark blue-haired man pointed out.

"They're from the Akatsuki," Kankuro said sternly.

"Ah... No wonder. It's no surprise. What brings them here?" The elderly man asked calmly as he folded his hands together tightly.

"We don't know, for sure. But it's difficult for us to hear since we were outside of the cave in the tunnel. However, we both know that they are going to plan something horrible-" Kankuro answered but didn't get to finish his sentence.

"My dear, of course, they are. Why else would they be here? And for what? Certainly, they can't be after the fifth Kazekage. They are after someone else. Could it be that boy that is fidgety? Naruto Uzumaki?" The elderly woman interrogated.

"Probably. It's one of the possible cases," Temari sighed and continued on. "But we have to do something about it. There's not enough time before they are about to strike us down."

"Right. I'll go tell Baki and the rest of the crew," the messenger bowed down and rushed out of the room as quickly as he can.

"Kankuro, Temari. Can you, at least, identify them?" The elderly man asked.

"Well, one thing we know is that there's a girl. She has a familiar resemblance," Kankuro replied, recalling back the memory of him witnessing the person.

"She's..." Temari trailed off her words and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Who?" The dark blue-haired man urged them to tell everyone at the table. Then, Kankuro opened his eyes slowly and whispered a name, much to their trauma.

Meanwhile, in the hospital room, the nurses and doctors were stuck in the corner of the room while protecting their patients from harm. The pink-haired kunoichi was still throwing chairs around and keeps breaking the tables and trays using her strong hands.

"Arrghh!" She snapped them in half with her left and right knees up and boomerangs the pieces on the wall.

"Miss Haruno! Please, don't scare them-" One of the medical nurses pleaded sadly.

The pink-haired kunoichi turned her head slowly at her with a malicious glint in her eyes. She then quickly grabbed the Comedone extractor and pops out the metal cap off onto the floor, much to their horror.

Before she started to throw it at her like a dart, the sand blocks her attack just in time before it almost stabbed one of the nurses in the chest. Everyone froze into their spot and glanced around to see who it was.

"Lord Kazekage!" One of the doctors exclaimed in relief.

"Sir!" The nurse cried out in panic.

Gaara, on the other hand, was staring at the pink-haired kunoichi with his eyes narrowed, saying. "I'm disappointed in you."

Sakura's eyes glowed bright red and growled angrily when she attempts to charge towards him. "Grrraaaahh!"

Although, the aura that was surrounding her had quickly vanished into thin air of dust. She suddenly started to collapse when her foot tiptoed upward until Gaara catches her from falling onto the floor.

"You two... I need you to come with me," the red-haired Kazekage ordered sternly as he carries the unconscious pink-haired kunoichi up in his arms tightly.

The doctor and the nurse nodded in agreement without saying a word and followed him out of the room later on.

"Just what happened to her?" One of the patients asked nervously.

"I have no idea... She suddenly lost control. She's probably sick..." The doctor muttered quietly in concern.

On the other hand, the others continued to work and started cleaning the mess that was scattered on the floor. It was definitely a lot of them, but luckily Gaara came in to stop the agitation that has been going around with Sakura.

They will soon find out what the problem was. For now, they just need to do their part as well as the rest of the people in the hospital. The medical doctors and nurses have no choice but to get new surgical tools in order to treat their patients. It was definitely a bit of tough luck for them.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	8. Help!

Please read review!

Her green eyes was fluttering open, yet her vision was still hazy from what she remembered. She started to keep blinking until she can see where she was right now. Her fingers were twitching voluntarily and gripped the white blanket tightly after she finally realizes that she had lost control over herself in the hospital.

"How did that happened...? Why? Why am I acting this way?" Sakura questioned herself in mind, but there was no answer.

She moved her head on the left to look at the clock and noticed that it's almost noon. Then, she was getting up from the bed, groaning in pain. She was gathering her thoughts and she couldn't help but feel physically weak.

"So strange... Did I really try to harm the patients and my coworkers at that time?" She asked in confusion and clenched her fists in annoyance, saying. "I've got to get out of here. I really need to go and find Naruto and the others. I need to ask them about something."

She stood up but ends up falling on the floor. Although, she managed to stand up on her feet and exits the door without showing herself in front of the doctors and nurses around the area.

As soon as she left the hospital building, she made a quick run and hopped onto different rooftops, much to the others' curiosity.

Sakura stopped for a moment when she realized that there was no poisonous gas circling anymore. She was surprised and was glad that everyone was safe. But before she could made a wide turn on the corner of the street, she accidentally bumped into someone with a black cloak around her, much to her startle.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you there. Excuse me," the pink-haired kunoichi said in a hurry. She didn't recognized the face of the girl who has her lips curled into a malicious smile.

"Sakura Haruno... the medical kunoichi of the hidden leaf village. You are one step closer to destruction," the girl said laughing in a deep tone of her voice and flashed out of the sight.

On the other side of the streets near the desserts and ice cream shop location, Kankuro and Temari were walking down while they were both taking a break from their duties.

"Man..." the purple-faced ninja took a bite of the chocolate donuts and said. "This is going to be tiring. Considering the fact that the Akatsuki are on their way to kill us."

"Not necessarily. We are under the investigation of what their real plan is. We will find them," the ponytail-haired kunoichi noted as she sips heavily on the taro bubble tea.

"Hmm. By the way, do you want to check how Sakura is doing? I mean, she really wasn't acting herself a few days ago, even after we discovered that there was someone else that-" Kankuro said quietly but got interrupted.

"Yeah. I know... It's bizarre," Temari shuddered nervously at that thought.

"We need to tell Naruto and Shikamaru about this," Kankuro reminded.

"Soon. Once we are finish with work," the ponytail-haired kunoichi pointed out and looks back on the front while they were strolling.

"Right," Kankuro agreed and crumples the donut wrapper as he shoved it inside his pocket.

Both of them suddenly stopped for a moment and looked up to see the pink-haired kunoichi hopping onto different rooftops of the buildings, much to their shock.

"What the-?" The purple-faced ninja asked blankly.

"Sakura?" The ponytail-haired kunoichi muttered with her eyes widened.

"Where is she going?" Kankuro questioned curiously.

"I don't know. From what I can tell, it must be important," Temari answered.

"Should we go follow her then?" He asked.

"Ugh. We can't. Remember what Baki told us? We cannot have free time unless we do the work that was assigned for us," she lectured and continued on. "Right now, let's leave her be and we can go after her later."

"Jeez. I thought that was..." Kankuro trailed off of his words without mentioning it.

"Yeah, same," Temari murmured softly and they continued to walk around before they head back to their current tasks.

Back in the Kazekage office, Naruto and Shikamaru were standing in front of the fifth Kazekage, including Baki after they completed their task.

"So it appears that you've checked every gas pipes to make sure they don't leak," Baki asked.

"Yup!! We sure did! Now, what's next?!" The blonde-haired ninja asked eagerly with a grin.

"Boy, you never get tired, eh?" The leaf jounin leader said chuckling.

"Nope. I'm all in!" Naruto said with his eyes sparkling like gold stars.

"Hmm. Well, there is. Kankuro and Temari will tell the details after they come back here," Baki reminded.

"By the way, what happened to Sakura? I heard she made a huge burst in the scene," Shikamaru said curiously.

"Wait, what?! How come I didn't know about this?!" Naruto's eyes widened in dismayed and continued on. "Just what the hell happened? Is she hurt?!"

"Hey, calm down," Shikamaru hushed him gently.

"No. She's alright. She is taking a good rest and she will wake up as soon as the doctors give her treatment," Gaara said softly.

"Okay, well then I'm going to see her," Naruto noted firmly and walked away from them and exit the door out of his office.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, sighed tiredly and said. "Don't mind him. He's just worried about her and I'm sure you are as well, Gaara."

The red-haired Kazekage stares off into space and closed his eyes for a moment with a curt nod in agreement. "I am... I'm certain that she's okay."

Baki and Shikamaru stood in silence and waited for him to speak until the door suddenly slammed against the wall, which happens to be the two siblings.

"Ah. You're just in time. Any news?" Baki asked gladly.

"Yes... There's something that we need to tell you," Temari said slowly.

"Go on," Gaara urged them.

"I don't know if you know this but ever since we were investigating one of the tunnels, the Akatsuki were inside the cave. They were all planning something bad. The rest of the councilors and leaders know about this, so now that you're back. You need to know who they are," Kankuro said with his eyes narrowed in concentration.

Outside the town buildings,

Sakura was beginning to feel dizzy and her skin was appearing to become more pale for no reason. She dropped down onto her knees and fell forward with her arms out.

Then, one of the Akatsuki members showed up from the black portal in his huge white bird.

Deidara smiled and laughed in amusement, saying. "Hmm... That was so easy. I could've just bomb her out, but sadly, I can't. I guess I have to wait for the right time to do that."

The white bird quickly uses its tail to scoop up Sakura's unconscious body and wrapped her around with its claws. Then, they both flew out towards the sky and dropped a few feathers on the rooftops and onto the ground.

A few minutes later, Deidara met up with White Zetsu and the mysterious girl inside the cave.

"Ma'am, she's here," he said as the bird unwrapped its claws around the pink-haired kunoichi's body and placed her body in the center of the bright violet circle.

"Good... Now, let's go out to make an announcement to everyone," the girl said chuckling wickedly.

"Yeaahh!!! Whooo!!! Hahaha! You are definitely splendid, m'lady! Master will be so proud to hear this!" The white Zetsu praised joyfully with a sadistic smile on his face and the three of them vanished out of the area.

Then, they appeared in top of the tallest building and watches the people working peacefully.

"It seems that they have eliminated your poison gas," the white Zetsu said in awe.

The black-hooded girl's lips curled into half and stated in a low voice. "If that's the case, then we shall put them in a spotlight."

"Wow. And then what? Explode their heads, limbs and other organs? Man, that is so creative, ya," Deidara said excitingly.

"Ugh, come on. That wouldn't be fun though," the white Zetsu remarked as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. That is too easy for the shinobi to notice. We will torture them until they meet to their sudden death," the girl sighed and smirked evilly.

"Ah. I see. How many?" The white Zetsu asked.

"It doesn't matter. As long as I have the power to destroy every human being there is and the world will revolve around me," the girl pointed out sadistically and her eyes darkened vengefully in vain, saying. "Even the fifth Kazekage will finally see what kind of person I am... Because I was once an angel."

She opened her lids, revealing the true colors that shows darkness in her bright green eyes...


	9. All Worth It

**Please read & review! :)**

* * *

It was that moment where the mysterious girl and her two allies stood upon the flat surface of the rooftop building. The first thing that they're about to create is a black circle that surrounds the citizens. They've already prepared six seals without letting them see visible in the public eye.

"Zetsu, make sure they're all in the center of my attention," she commanded quietly.

"Alrighty, miss. You got it!" He said grinning gleefully.

"And as for you, Deidara. Do what you must," the girl said without breaking eye contact from the view of the people working in the streets and their shops.

"Oh, yeah... Time to have some fun, hmm," the blonde-haired Akatsuki chirped as he landed on top of the white bird, then flew across the sky to reach towards a specific location.

Meanwhile, Naruto was running and hopping around the buildings, searching for his best friend's whereabouts. He glanced around frantically in hopes to see her.

 _"Damn it. If she's not in the hospital, then where did she go?" The blonde-haired ninja asked worriedly in frustration. "Sakura..."_

Just for that a matter of seconds, Naruto decided to go back to Shikamaru instead.

On the other hand, the white Zetsu began to control the minds of the innocent people, using his Spore Technique, which creates the bodies of others by monitoring them.

Most people started to scream and rambled out at the top of their lungs as they were running in a panicked rush.

"Perfect. Now, just a little more," the white Zetsu said cackling.

Within a few minutes, an electrical sound was resonating loudly through their ears like an invisible force of echo that whirls around them. Thus, people were protecting themselves with their hands covered on their hearing as they were moving closer together.

"It's time..." The black-hooded girl said smiling evilly below them and continued on after stepping forward on the edge of the flat sandy surface. They were all looking at her in skepticism and wonder. "Now that I have your attention, I would like to make an announcement in this village. So embrace yourselves, everyone, because you are about to be experiencing a huge phenomenon." She paused for a moment by taking the hood off slowly revealing her true face.

"AHHH!" Many people gasped shockingly in unison and started whispering to each other quietly.

"I am the new Sakura Haruno. As you can see, I'm nowhere near as far as from being dead. I'm fully alive and I will be the one who is going to rule over the town, then take the position as the fifth Kazekage," she declared firmly, much to Kankuro and Temari's dismay.

"No fucking way... She must be fucking joking, right?" The purple-faced ninja swore under his breath while clenching his teeth in irritation.

"Honestly, she must be out of her mind... Who the hell is she?" The ponytail-haired kunoichi questioned angrily and sighed. "We don't even know if that's the real Sakura."

"No shit. That girl looks exactly like her back in that cave," Kankuro uttered quickly with his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yeah. But again, she's one of the Akatsuki. She's probably an impostor or someone posing as her, just to ruin Sakura's real image," Temari explained theoretically.

"Right. Speaking of Sakura, she's nowhere to be seen... The last time we saw her was up on the right side of those rooftops. She was going somewhere or to someone..." Kankuro muttered in peculiar.

"Just what is going on?" Temari asked worriedly.

"Well, we've got to get out of here and I've just got the right plan," Kankuro said straightforwardly.

"Uh. I do too. So you better count me in, bro," Temari whispered quietly in a hiss as they slowly move out of the crowd.

But the black circle releases the purple strings of seals around, so both of them stopped themselves for a moment to examine them carefully.

"Ah... Now, this is one of the surprises. You all must stay in the same spot, now that you are all trapped in a huge barrier. If anyone one of you made a single step, you will all die," the Dark Sakura threatens spitefully at them. She turns her back on them and whispered to her ally, saying. "I'll be leaving them to you in your hands, Zetsu, while I go back and see how she's doing."

"No problem, miss. Ah! You are dazzling. You really are an Akatsuki material," he said grinning widely.

"Hm. As always," Dark Sakura said as she flipped her hair confidently and retreated in a swirl of cherry blossom petals out of their sight.

"Oh, jeez. It must be one of those old tricks, eh?" Kankuro said dully at that.

"Don't underestimate her. We don't know what she's capable of. After all, she managed to spread the poisonous gas in our home," Temari hissed.

"Ugh, so what are we going to do? We are just going to wait around and not do shit?! We've got to inform Gaara about this..." the purple-faced ninja pointed out.

"I know. So let's pull this off," the ponytail-haired kunoichi said and they both made substitutions for their places while everyone else is talking helplessly to each other.

During that time, Katsumi entered Gaara's office and told him about the issue at hand.

"There's a bit of trouble outside the streets. Everyone is captured in a barrier and they have no way out," she said in concern.

"What? Right now?!" The red-haired Kazekage asked in shock.

"Yes. Apparently, there was Sakura and she's in the Akatsuki," Katsumi said.

Gaara, on the other hand, began to narrow his eyes and asks quietly. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, she's wearing a black hood and a mark. That may be the possible case that she must have left the hospital couple of hours ago," the brunette thought out loud.

"I doubt that is entirely her... Katsumi, you should know that Sakura has been very ill lately, so I suggest that we should both investigate this and find out more," the red-haired Kazekage stated calmly as he stood up from his chair and walk towards the door to exit.

"Okay," the brunette nodded in agreement and followed him from behind.

Back inside the cave, the girl met up with Deidara, who was watching the pink-haired kunoichi below locked up in chains with her arms and legs out inside the bright purple sphere.

"Hm. Any progress yet?" She asked curiously.

"Yup. It's working. Every bit last amount of chakra that she has will literally be transferred into yours when she passes out," Deidara answered.

"It better be..." dark Sakura said sternly and chuckles at the sight of her in a far distance, saying. "Look at you, you're just as pathetic as you always are. No wonder why Ino still wants to overpower you and beat you to the very bottom. I can't believe you're still in love with that Sasuke Uchiha. That pretty boy with a bad attitude... Too bad. He hates you and Naruto. Sooner or later, I will own everything that you have and you will entirely cease to exist..."

The pink-haired kunoichi still has her head laying down while she has her eyes slightly open unconsciously in a haze on the ground. She couldn't move an inch or hear a sound because all her five sense were gone.

Therefore, she lost herself.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	10. A Sign of the Blossom's Spirit

**Please read review!**

* * *

A single drop of water had splashed onto the blue rivers of the midnight moon. The pink-haired kunoichi suddenly woke up with her eyes wide open as she sat up. She slowly looked around the surroundings, filled with wonder and awe.

 _"Where am I?" She asked herself in mind and stood up on her feet to walk ahead in the middle of the mountain forest._ "I've never seen this place before. Gosh, please don't tell me I'm dreaming."

Then, a white light appeared in the sky and was descending like a speck of dust. It was pure gold and spoke out its voice of an angel.

"You're not. You are in a world of trance. I'm Crystal, by the way," she introduced gently and said. "Come, follow me. There's someone who wants to meet you."

"Who?" Sakura asked blankly in puzzlement.

"Hehehe. You'll see once we get there. It's only 1.5 kilometers away from here to there," Crystal said giggling happily as they both were crossing the bridge, passing by the river lake and continue to head through the forest.

"So... I'm just in a hypnotic state, then?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked confusedly.

"Yup. But don't worry, it's just like experiencing between consciousness and unconsciousness," Crystal explained shortly with a smile.

"I see... Am I going to die?" Sakura asked softly.

"Hah. Don't be silly. Of course not, you are here because your soul has subconsciously traveled here. You are seeking for answers, right? Then, you've made the right decision," she said as they were strolling on the path they were following.

During that time, everyone else was still trapped inside the barrier while they were eating extra food and drinking water bottles on the ground. The rest of them were sleeping on the ground since they don't have beds to sleep on.

"Jeez... This sucks. If it wasn't for that girl, maybe we wouldn't be having this problem," one of the young teenage girls remarked.

"Yeah, honestly," her friend agreed and sighed tiredly.

"Ugh. Stop whining and complaining. We will be getting out of this cage. We just have to wait for the other shinobi to figure this out," the young man pointed out as he placed his hand upon his right cheek.

On the other hand, Baki and the rest of the jounin leaders were planning a strategy that can break the walls of the barrier. He was writing down and highlighting the ones who will be in the position to perform their techniques effectively.

"Now, I know this is going to be a lot of work for all of us. But I believe that we are able to defeat them," he said reassuringly.

"But, sir! They are from the Akatsuki. Certainly, that Sakura Haruno is..." the jounin trailed off of his words as he thought about what happened.

"Never mind that. The fifth Kazekage and his siblings will take care of her. We don't know how she ended up joining with them. But after this, we will find out," Baki said and continued on, ordering. "Okay, you know where you guys are, right? Head out to your positions, immediately."

"Right!" They saluted in unison and quickly flashed out of his sight as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Shikamaru met up and they were both running inside the tunnels to head towards the cave where their friends are.

"Are you sure we're traveling-" The blonde-haired asked in doubt but got interrupted.

"Yes, I'm sure. Look, we should've been aware by the fact that Sakura's going insane. But we can't blame her for her loss of self-control," the jounin leader said.

"Just why... Why is this happening to her? More likely, the Akatsuki are after her. That's bullshit," Naruto sneered.

"Well, it's not just that. The girl also claimed herself to be the new 'Sakura Haruno,'" Shikamaru said quietly.

The blonde-haired ninja's eyes widened in shock and said angrily. "What...?! That's impossible. How could someone say that? She must be a fake."

"Yeah. It's hard to be convinced that she's the real one. But as a matter of fact, I think we both know that Sakura would never join the Akatsuki and threaten the whole village. Besides, she's far different from them."

"Absolutely. Sakura is the kind of friend that other people need. She's helpful most of the times and smart when it comes to answering questions," Naruto stated while thinking about the thought of her.

"No doubt about that. Anyway, we better hurry and find Gaara and the others," the jounin leader noted.

"Yeah," the blonde-haired ninja nodded in agreement as they both were running a quick pace without stumbling on one of the rocks on their sides.

Back in the world of trance, Crystal and Sakura were still walking through the forest and almost see the essence of nature in front of them.

"Yay. Just a few more steps," the magical golden dust squealed in excitement.

The pink-haired kunoichi gasped in surprise as they've finally arrived, saying. "Wow... This is amazing..."

"Yup!" Crystal said in delight and continued on. "We have to wait here until she responds."

Sakura nodded in silence and stood in the edge of the ground near the bright blue rivers with galactic stars all over them.

"Just in time," the tree spoke when a blue flame sparked.

"M'lady, I did what you asked. She's right here now," Crystal said as she introduces Sakura in front of her.

"Um, hello. My name is..." The pink-haired kunoichi got cut off when she paused herself.

"Sakura Haruno. Yes, I've heard about you. Crystal always talks about you every day while you were away for 17 years. Remember me, I'm Serulata," she stated softly.

"Really? Oh, I guess I haven't heard or traveled here for those decades. I'm sorry. It's just that I haven't been making any connections with you," Sakura bowed her head down with an apology.

"It's alright, my dear. I understand what you are going through lately. It must be hard for you and your friends," Serulata said gently.

"Hmm... I just don't know what is happening right now, you know. Ever since I passed out from releasing a huge amount of chakra, I think I've been training so much," the pink-haired kunoichi explained when she gazed off into space sadly.

"I know... That is why you are here. But that is not the only reason why you collapsed so suddenly. It's something else," the white blossom tree noted.

"What is it?" Sakura asked her in puzzlement.

"There's someone else that you haven't seen yet. She's just like you. Aside from that, she also joined the Akatsuki and I've heard that she is planning to take over your whole being. Your whole existence... She's none other than..." Serulata paused for a moment and said carefully. "Inner Sakura."

The pink-haired kunoichi got startled for a moment with a gasp. Her eyes were glistening intensely, then she started to question with a slight stutter. "But how... H-how is that possible...?! Is that why I haven't been hearing her voice for the past two years...?"

"Indeed. She's consumed with hate, anger, and pride. With Sasuke leaving the village had caused her to feel those things, which had an impact on her. Perhaps, she felt abandoned, unloved, unappreciated, and hurt, just like you. But you are the one who controls those emotions," Serulata explained clearly.

Sakura, on the other hand, approaches her and stared deeply, asking. "Now what... What am I going to do...? I've let her take control... I've let her take advantage of me and tried to hurt my friends... I admit..." She trailed off of her words when she closed her eyes, then reopened them to reveal her tears falling from her green eyes filled with emptiness. "I'm weak... I tried to be strong for everybody around me. I act so differently from them... The truth is, I was never strong enough to be where I should be... I just want to be the best kunoichi that they all expect me to be. I want to be recognized as a strong one, just like Lady Tsunade. I feel pressured since my friends are improving ahead of me." She then placed her hand upon her chest where her heart is pounding and continued on. "You don't know how much it hurts that every day I wake up, I always compare myself to the other girls... You don't know how much it hurts when I always think to myself that I'm not good enough. You don't know what it feels like to live with a normal life and not have so many changes... When I look in the mirror, I see myself useless..."

All of a sudden, Sakura began to sob uncontrollably as she dropped down onto her knees while she was holding herself together. Her tears had fallen on the ground until a few soft white flowery petals were shifting against her to look up to the tree.

"My dear, I do know... I do know everything. It saddens me to see you suffer like this and go through these struggles on your own. Sure, your friends and your mentors may have helped you along the way. But you are the only one who is capable and willing to overcome those obstacles. Sakura, dear... Open your hands," Serulata said softly and watches her do what she had told her to do. "I will now give you this gift. It is another pendant, so take it."

"Why?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked in confusion after her tears have dried up from her cheeks.

"Because this will strengthen you... And your faith..." The white blossom tree answered gently.

 _"Faith..." Her voice echoed through her mind in repeat._

From that point on, Sakura flashed her eyes open, revealing the true sign of renewal strength and determination. That was the moment that she became wide awake. She then gripped her hands tightly into a fist, including her feet as the bright green aura was swirling around her body.

She was finally released from the bonds of chains, much to everyone's astonishment.

Deidara and the white Zetsu didn't even know what to expect, whereas Dark Sakura glared at her in spite.

"What?! How is that possible?! She can't be awake!" The white Zetsu questioned in disbelief.

"Ugh. Very unusual, yeah," Deidara commented in annoyance.

"Argh! You two! Just go and execute her now!" Dark Sakura ordered hastily and vanished in a quick flash out of the area to move into a different spot, then watches the scene in front of her.

Gaara and the others were stunned for a moment and they decided to help their friend out.

"Alrighty, but first. We got to get rid of some pests here," Deidara chided when he glanced maliciously at the red-haired Kazekage and his siblings with a smirk. He pulled out three chunks of clay and automatically transform them into medium sized bombs, which he quickly threw them up in the air.

As the bombs made a loud explosion, an invisible bright green force had gravitated the smoke away from them.

The Sand Siblings were surprised to see the pink-haired kunoichi pulling up a defense that protected them.

"Sakura..." Temari murmured softly.

The pink-haired kunoichi, however, did not turn over her shoulder, except that she only stared at them calmly in the corner of her eyes.

The red-haired Kazekage was watching her taking charge against Deidara and the White Zetsu, using her new ninjutsu.

She activated the pendant on her hand, exclaiming out loud. "White-Blossom Crane! Unleash!"

A huge star appeared through the ceiling, dissolving into pieces of the golden speck of magic dust below her.

Then, it transforms into a giant crane that spreads its wings with a huge cry out the call of a shrill.

The bird was flying in the air as it enters through Sakura's body, which she has now possessed the power of the true blossom's spirit.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	11. The Other Half

**Please read & review!**

* * *

On the contrary, Deidara was quickly chewing up all the clays into several pieces of bombs and performed a few of his techniques called the explosive land mines and minions. He quickly laid his hands out while he was riding his white bird.

The pink-haired kunoichi, on the other hand, made the hand signs to use one of the white-blossom Crane's powers, forming a delicate sharp instrument that slowly creates so much golden dust. The weapon is known as, the Dancing Moon of the Spear, that contains windpipes, creating air whirlwinds in the shaft. She then grabbed it tightly above her head and intertwines it through her fingers as she began to fling it towards the blonde-haired Akatsuki.

Gaara also made his move when his sand was gathering other solid particles around the different surfaces of the cave and hurtled to wrapped Deidara's right hand and leg. He closed his fist, yelling out his own jutsu. "Sand Coffin!"

However, the white bird creature deflected their attacks with its right wing. But then, the spear weapon had automatically reverse back to their direction, which pierced the lower limb of Deidara's arm, causing him to bleed externally with his blood dripping down onto his wrist. Although, he stared at them sadistically with a smirk on his face as he raised his two fingers up in the center line of his mouth, initiating to detonate the bombs that were sprinting and hovering themselves towards Sakura's body. "Boom!"

All of a sudden, everything burst out in dark smokes, whereas the pink-haired kunoichi was covering herself and moves away as quickly as possible.

"Sakura!" The Sand Siblings widened their eyes in shock after they had landed on the flat sandy surface safely.

The red-haired Kazekage, on the other hand, was glaring at the Deidara intently as he made his move again to try and reach to his body, using his Sand Coffin technique on him. Closing his fist in a firm grip had the Akatsuki cry out in pain of his sudden injury in his lower abdomen and shoulders.

Then, the white bird cawed out in a shrill as they began to flee away in escape by blasting the inner walls of the cave with his bomb and head up towards the skies, leaving the place turn into massive stones topping against one another.

"Damn... He really got away the second time. Bastard..." Kankuro swore quietly in spite.

"Yeah. He's an Akatsuki. What do you expect...? I know we all wanted to defeat one. But again, they're strong," Temari noted and panted tiredly out of breath.

"Sakura. Where is she?" The purple-faced ninja asked as they were both frantically searching for the remainings on the ground.

"Don't worry, her friends are on their way to help her," the red-haired Kazekage said as he approached beside them and looked down together in concern.

In the meantime, the white-blossom Crane was carrying Sakura with its wings around her as they both plopped down through the holes of the sand surface. They end up in the bottom empty pit while the pink-haired kunoichi squinted her eyes away from the dirt of the soil that stains on her clothes.

She sat properly and looked at the beautiful creature as she petted her gently, saying. "Thank you... I owe you my entire life."

The white-blossom Crane curled its lips into a warm smile and nodded as an answer.

"Hehe... You can go now. I'll take care of the rest," the pink-haired kunoichi instructed softly and let go of the creature from her hand when it started to fly above her and disappeared in a sparkling light. The magical golden dust was fading and returned back to the pendant that Serrulata had given her on her hand. She tries to put it in her pocket until she felt a sharp pain stabbing on her lower back of the spine and right abdomen. She was clutching onto herself mildly until she heard two voices calling her out in the tunnel ways.

"Sakura!" They exclaimed surprisingly in unison.

"Naruto! Shikamaru!" The pink-haired kunoichi glanced behind her left shoulder with a pleasant smile on her face. "You're all here."

"Yeah. We've come all the way here to find you. You even left the hospital and here you are," the blonde-haired ninja squatted down on his knees and hugged her. Then he suddenly noticed that she has several scratches and a few wounds on her shoulders, back, and front in concern. "Hah! You're hurt..."

"Of course I am..." Sakura said weakly but was able to smile. She groaned achingly in discomfort.

"We'll get you healed up later. But before we do anything else, you must stay where you are. The rest of the group and I have brought the manuscripts," Shikamaru ordered as he pulled out the light pink scroll from his pouch.

"Wait, what?! Why... What is it for? Did I do something wrong?" The pink-haired kunoichi questioned in confusion.

"No, no. It's not that," the jounin leader shook his head and chuckled slightly.

"Okay, then. What is it?" Sakura urged him to go on.

Shikamaru stared at her as he remembers the time when Tsunade had explained to him about what the light pink scroll was.

 _FLASHBACK:_

 _"I hope this is not some kind of joke. It looks like one of the girls' you-know-what their time of the month," the jounin leader said awkwardly._

 _"What are you talking about? Listen, this is different from the other scrolls that many shinobi has. The light pink scroll can help retrieve the lost powers of the certain kunoichi. They consist of eight different elements of nature, such as earth, wind, water, fire, ice, thunder, darkness, and light. However, I suggest that you need more than four members in your group to activate the scrolls. You can do it, so don't waste your time on it," the fifth Hokage explained and asks. "Is that understood?"_

 _"Yes, ma'am. Ah... This is going to be such a drag. Out of all the people, it had to be her," Shikamaru sighed lazily._

 _"Well, what do you expect? You're dealing with the Akatsuki's problem. I'm certain you will accomplish this task. Good luck," Tsunade said smiling at him._

 _END OF FLASHBACK_

Back in the present time, Shikamaru and the others had laid the scrolls around Sakura in the shape of an octagon. They were making sure that they got the right angle to her.

"Will those work...?" Sakura questioned worriedly.

"Definitely. Why wouldn't it? Lady Tsunade wanted me to do the favor because she cares about you, not only her student. She sees you more like a granddaughter to her after all," the jounin leader answered with reassurance.

"Wow. Granny Tsunade must have been going soft lately. Well, she always does ever since I protected her from Orochimaru and Kabuto's threats. She is the kind of person who would risk her life for anyone," Naruto said grinning genuinely, thinking about the memory.

"So... Sakura, are you ready for this?" Shikamaru asked blankly.

The pink-haired kunoichi stared at them for a moment in silence and nodded slowly in agreement.

"Okay, brace yourself," Shikamaru reminded as he and the rest of the group started making a few quick hand signs, then perform the eight pink scrolls.

"This is for you, Sakura," Naruto said smiling happily and held his two hands together, releasing his own blue chakra.

The pink-haired kunoichi looked at them tearily and gave a curt nod silently. She watches them unleash the elemental powers that quickly transferred to the opened scrolls and began to glow brightly, which helps to create different color beams, forming a gigantic ball of the sphere.

The others were astonished to see that all their chakra is reciprocating well.

"It's so beautiful..." Sakura murmured softly as she looked above at the rainbow.

"Ugh... I don't think I can handle this very long," one of the chunin groaned weakly.

"Stay strong," the jounin commanded firmly.

"Alright. We are going to transfuse this upon you and when the time is out, we drop this ball as gently as possible for her. You got it?" Shikamaru explained clearly and waited for their approval.

"Right!" They all replied strongly in unison.

Meanwhile, Dark Sakura came out of her hiding spot and pulled off her black hood. She walks around to see the crumbled parts of the cave broke into pieces. She looks around without noticing that there are three opponents showing up from the front, back, and top.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" The ponytail-haired kunoichi exclaimed out loud as she started to blow her huge fan towards her.

"Black Secret Technique: Machine One Shot!" The purple-faced ninja said confidently and controls his two puppets in front of him to shoot out the bullets from their bodies at her.

"Sand Hail!" The red-haired Kazekage ordered as his sand was beginning to form a huge drizzle above her and strike her.

At the same time of their attacks, she smirked wickedly and dismissed them using her Gravitational Impulse technique as she swings both of her arms in demonstration, deflecting Kankuro and Temari literally off from a distance.

Both of them stumbled backward, yet they managed to stand up on their feet firmly while holding onto their weapons.

"Ugh. Damn it... Just how could she pull a trick on us? That bitch..." Kankuro swore aggravatingly with his teeth clenched.

"Calm down. I know... I was wondering the same. But we cannot underestimate her as I've said to you before," Temari noted.

"Yeah, yeah. Akatsuki, Akatsuki... My ass," the purple-faced ninja rolled his eyes in disregard.

"Hmm. Well, I guess I'm going to have to defeat you first. After all, I'm willing to kill for the position of the head title as the new fifth Kazekage," dark Sakura said smirking slyly and tapping her finger upon her chin lightly.

"I advise you to quit," Gaara said calmly.

"Quit? Hmm... You must be joking. Considerably, I refuse," she said chuckling in amusement.

The red-haired Kazekage stared at her for a long time and noticed something different, saying. "I see... I pity you, just by seeing how unsympathetic you are."

"And what makes you think I am? You don't know me, Gaara," dark Sakura said calmly.

"You're right. I don't, but you are not what you are..." he stated.

The pink-haired girl started narrowing her eyes and did not say any word. She decided to throw some kunai knives out of her long cape until they were striking towards his direction.

Gaara's sand made a quick defense by clinging on the small weapons. He began to perform one of his techniques by developing a lot of solid particles at the bottom of his feet, which creates a quicksand beneath her.

Dark Sakura simply smirked at him and hovered in the air to counterattack, using Purple Toxic Gas that releases when she was spinning around. She then backflipped and hopped onto a different rock surface while she was waiting for him to react.

"Hm... I guess this has some timing," the red-haired Kazekage stated in curiosity after he was being automatically protected by his sand. "Either way, you won't withstand much longer."

"How deluded of you. I'm impressed by your skills. Unfortunately, this is where you'll end," the pink-haired girl sneered.

Both of them were staring at each other in a near distance as they continued to keep fighting without even stopping.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	12. The Confrontation of Inner Sakura

**Please read & review**

* * *

Back in the streets of the sand village, many people had passed out since they've been there for 24 hours. The councillors and the rest of the shinobi were attempting to break down the huge barrier with the machines that they've made by smashing it with a gigantic stone of a hammer. Though, it was futile.

"Ahh…! sir, this is hopeless," one of the jounin said, panting out of breath tiredly.

"Tsch. Just keep trying and quit whining, alright? People have been stuck there for too long, so I suggest that all of you need to keep pushing the hammer with every bit of chakra you have. But for some of you, you should use one of your specific techniques that I've asked you to do. No matter how much capacity there is, at least it will do good for the sake of others," Baki explained clearly and strictly as he placed his hands on hips.

"Hmmm," they all agreed in unison.

"Good. Now, get back to work and get rid of this damn thing. It's been such a nuisance lately," Baki commanded as they followed his orders quickly before the rush hour begin.

Concurrently, Kankuro and Temari decided to go through the holes of the empty pit using their own weapons to land safely on the ground. As they had reached the bottom, they squint their eyes slightly from the brightest light of the sphere that was stimulating the pink-haired kunoichi profoundly.

"Oh my… The power… It's so strong," Temari muttered nervously.

"Yeah… It is," Kankuro agreed as they both continued to watch Naruto, Shikamaru and the others utilizing the energies together.

All of a sudden, the rainbow sphere had burst out a light in just a few seconds until it had emanated through Sakura's entire body, much to everyone's astonishment.

They covered their eyes with the back of their hands and slowly removed them to see what was happening.

"Sa...Sakura…?" Naruto asked suspiciously with his eyes narrowed at the sight of his best friend.

She has her head down and arms laid out on the ground while she was motioning them down towards her slowly. Then, she opened her bright green eyes in conviction, which had the others know that she has been rejuvenated.

Meanwhile, Gaara was still dodging her attacks while he was standing on the same spot as usual without having a single flinch. His sand was shooting tiny sharp bullets out of the gourd and from the ground. He remains calm when it comes to her attacking him with her other techniques.

However, she stops for a moment and sighed tiredly. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

"I could ask you the same question. Until then, you will wish you were not even half alive," the red-haired Kazekage remarked monotonously.

"Hmm. That's too bad, isn't it? Maybe I should probably bring forth the weapon. Don't worry, it's only the beginning for me to start terminating you," dark Sakura chuckled lightly.

"Go ahead," Gaara said sarcastically in a soft tone of his voice with his arms crossed.

With her two fingers held up in front of her mouth, she began to use one of her ninjutsu skills. It is known as, Dragon's Spew of Fire.

"Now, deliver…" the pink-haired Akatsuki whispered quietly.

The purple dragon with yellow eyes appeared in front of the center and breathes out the fire in their surroundings. This made a circular blockade around them that only arranges it to the limits.

"Remember, if you pass through it, you're out. I'm warning you, Gaara. Give up or get wiped out. Your choice," dark Sakura suggested.

"Neither," the red-haired Kazekage answered as he moves his sand and shapes a sharp weapon, then grabs it on his hand. "Ultimately Hard Absolute Attack: Shukaku's Spear!"

The pink-haired Akatsuki member, glared her eyes menacingly at him at that moment.

Then, Gaara suddenly plunges it forward across to her direction and started to charge instead of staying on the same spot. He was striking her, using his Successive Shots Sand drizzle and Concealed Sand Picture Cat jutsu at the same time.

Dark Sakura, on the other hand, got a few scratches and bruises on her arms with blood dripping on the ground. She builds up a light purple wall of defense, then she closed her eyes for a moment and reopens them when she meditated a genjutsu spell that forces him to feel drowsy.

In a few seconds, the red-haired Kazekage was blinking his eyes slowly and tries to concentrate. As soon as he tries to slash her with his Sand Claw, he immediately drops down onto his knees until he was lifted up on his feet by the pink-haired Akatsuki's dark power.

"That's it…? How disappointing… I was expecting more from you. Sadly, you just don't have the guts to overthrow me," dark Sakura mocked and continued on when she summons a Black Dragon Katana by sliding out from the back of her cape, saying. "I suppose this is where you are going to… die!"

Before she made a slicing motion towards his immobilized body, someone else suddenly collided her own sword with hers that vibrates the clinging noise of both weapons, much to dark Sakura's bewilderment.

The person, who stopped her, turns out to be the real one that she was facing.

"Sakura?!" The pink-haired Akatsuki gasped as she watches her carry the body of her dear friend away and placed him on the corner. She narrowed her eyes darkly at her, saying. "Hm… You never failed to surprise me… Even after you lost all the powers that you have in you. You still managed to retaliate."

The pink-haired kunoichi, on the other hand, checked Gaara's pulses on the side of his neck with the tip of her fingers gently and stood up on her feet. Then, she slowly turns around to face her with sobriety. "You are absolutely pathetic. I never knew you would stoop so low. Why…?"

Dark Sakura was staring at her vacantly without saying anything, then flashes out and appears in front of her face to slice her in half with the Black Dragon Katana.

However, Sakura was quick enough to move out of the way as she hovers in the air and backflips. She started to charge towards her and attempts to strike her with the White Dragon Katana.

Both of their weapons had collided again while one of them is smirking evilly and the other is serenely gazing.

For the time being, Naruto and the others knew that the hole above them was already sealed with big rocks. They head out of the tunnels to go and find their two missing companions.

"Guys! We have to hurry!" Temari called out nervously.

"We'll get there! I know they will be safe!" Shikamaru answered reassuringly.

"Tsch. That girl is going to pay. Whoever she is, she must be stopped because Sakura is always getting hurt," Naruto clenched his teeth in anger.

"Yeah. let's turn this way," Kankuro said, pointing out to the right direction as they all followed along.

At the same time, the pink-haired kunoichi began to make a few hand signs to perform a clone technique, in which another figure of hers popped up beside her. Then, they were both running in a fast pace and made a Double-Crane's Earth Edge jutsu that increases the level of their combat against dark Sakura.

They grabbed onto each other's shoulders to kick their legs up high, jabbing their fists through her stomach in the process. Then, they held her tightly in the center of her body and swing her off in a far distance below.

Dark Sakura stumbled a little, yet she landed safely on the ground while glaring at them. She stayed on the same spot and uses one of her ninjutsu. She whispered in menace, saying. "Unbound: Dragon's Den…"

On a spur of moment, the area was beginning to tremble among the rocks that was scattered around as it grew noisily until one of the darkest creatures appeared in front of Sakura, who has her eyes widened in dismay. Her shadow clone immediately disappeared in a puff of smoke after being caught off guard by what she saw. She was throwing multiple shurikens towards her opponent while hovering down.

Though, dark Sakura eventually dismissed them with a fling of her right arm, which strikes back to the pink-haired kunoichi, who quickly dodged them and got a small cut on her left leg.

"Argh…!" She cried out hurtful.

"Now… Disperse!" Dark Sakura ordered cynically the Black Dragon with its yellow-green eyes.

The creature roared thunderously at the top of its lungs and flaps the sharp wings for a few seconds to fly towards the pink-haired kunoichi. Then, the dragon began to flare its nostrils as it breathes out a huge fire.

Sakura, on the other hand, moves out of the attack by using the Crane's wing-shield technique. At that instant, she promptly made a several hand signs to perform one of the special ninjutsu. Her pendant activated to deliver out the powers. Another weapon was distributed upon her hands, indicating a big shuriken, which she exclaims out loud. "Wind Blossom Star!"

Dark Sakura widened her eyes in astonishment and watches it spin in a rapid motion towards her. She ducked her head down and noticed that a bit of her stranded hair was cut off. She decided not to look at them as her main focus target was the pink-haired kunoichi. She jumped up in the air to front flip and strike her with a long crystalline spikes that formed on the very tip of her fingers.

On the contrary, the pink-haired kunoichi tries to block her attack with one of the arm defense, but was gashed throughout. She grunted in pain and saw one foot kicked her in the center of her stomach rigidly that threw her off to the bottom span of the sand surface. Her body was rolling over and tries to move as much as possible. However, she was a bit injured and coughs out the blood from her mouth.

Dark Sakura landed on the ground and started to approach her while holding the Katana down. When she stopped in front of her body, she hold the weapon with both hands, saying sadistically. "Your time is up! Say Goodbye, Sakura!"

As soon as she was about to stab her directly on the back, the pink-haired kunoichi abruptly pulls out her Katana to pierce her on the right side.

All at once, both of them were frozen on their spots in silence. Their eyes widened in shock and trauma when several drops of blood spilled out in a slow motion. Thoughts were beginning to race around their minds.

But then, dark Sakura narrowed her eyes in resentment at the pink-haired kunoichi as she jumped backward a bit and held her lower wounded abdomen on the right. She quickly healed herself using one of the medical techniques. "Hah. That was swell. Not outstanding to vanquish me."

Sakura, on the other hand, started to stand up on her feet, still holding her Katana closely. She asks her melancholy. "Is that what you care about…? Winning, controlling over people's lives… Those things are not the answers-"

"No… It is. Power is everything that I crave for," dark Sakura interrupted her firmly.

"Why…? Why are you like this…? There are many people that you've harmed, yet they still love you… Why are you doing this? Are you not concerned about their welfare? Things are going to get worse if you keep hurting them," Sakura interrogated demandingly after panting her breath out.

"How could they love me when they never asked me what's wrong? Why should I be the one to be worried about them? I'm not the same person as I was, Sakura… This is my path. I've made my choice. It's time for me to destroy every single thing that you have and replace them with my own…" dark Sakura stated harshly.

 _FLASHBACKS:_

 _During the second round of the Chunin exams, Naruto and Sasuke were in their unconscious state while Sakura was looking after them at the Forest of Death._

 _After the Third Preliminaries had ended, her battle with Ino became a deadlock since both of them were strong. However, it wasn't enough for her, but she managed to accept defeat due to the time limit._

 _One of the missions to the Land of Waves was definitely the first time that Sakura couldn't do anything to help her teammates when they were fighting against Zabuza and Haku. She was mourning over Sasuke's fake "death" for only a few minutes, instead of taking him someplace for him to wake up._

 _After he left the village, Sakura was still struggling to master new medical techniques with Lady Tsunade._

 _Even if she had excelled on every tests, quizzes, and assignments in the Ninja School Academy, she tried so hard to make her parents be proud of her._

 _END OF THE FLASHBACKS_

The pink-haired kunoichi stared at her for a moment until she spoke out slowly. "Now, I know… You're lonely… You feel that not many people acknowledge you, not many of them appreciate you… You don't need to be the enemy and let everyone know… You are not a bad person. It's not too late for you to do what's right… You've always been a part of me and I cannot blame you for what you are feeling..."

Dark Sakura didn't say anything at all and began to charge against her as she raises her Black Dragon Katana up to strike cruelly against her. She was ignoring what she was saying until she felt a warm hug by Sakura, who wrapped her arms around.

"I'll never let you go. Please, forgive me… I'm sorry for everything and for the way you are this way. I love you, Sakura…" the pink-haired kunoichi murmured quietly while she was shedding tears out from her eyes.

Suddenly, they both stood in where they are, whereas Naruto and the others arrived just in time to watch the scene in front of them.

"Ah…" they all gasped in awe with their eyes wide open.

Dark Sakura looked at her and returned her embrace as she closed her eyes for a moment. A tear slid down from the right cheek and began to smile, saying. "I love you, too…"

Sakura hugged her tightly and said. "I finally realize that I keep hurting myself so much. I keep forgetting to know what's important in my life… I'm the one who made you develop those terrible feelings… You don't deserve that… You deserve the kind of life that you need… Family, friends, and relatives… What you need is love and affection… Mostly, you are my inner Sakura and I will learn how to treat you respectfully and love you unconditionally…"

Dark Sakura nodded in understanding and cries out for joy with a warm smile that displayed across her face, saying. "Thank you, Sakura…" Then, she eventually began to disappear into a white light of golden specks of dust and enters inside Sakura's body. She returned back to where she was as her inner spirit and gave her own powers back.

The pink-haired kunoichi inhales and exhales out at that point and naturally unleashes one of her newest techniques. A Huge Cherry Blossom flower appeared behind her as the petals began to swirl around her figure when she was floating in the air with her bright green eyes opened in boldness.

"Sakura…" Naruto muttered at the sight of her.

The red-haired Kazekage slowly gets up on his feet while he was watching her floating down towards the ground gently. He was surprised to see her fulfill her strength.

The others was also speechless and started to run towards her with big, happy smiles.

"You did it!" Kankuro exclaimed happily.

"Girl, you really have that charm. You are incredible," Temari said grinning widely.

"You are definitely a true kunoichi," Shikamaru said smirking.

"Thank you guys for the help that I need. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be fully alive," the pink-haired kunoichi said as she gave them a curt nod kindly and was hugged quickly by Naruto.

"You are one heck of a heroine, Sakura," Naruto beamed brightly and laughed.

"Hehe. I appreciate that," she answered with tears of joy until her eyes landed upon Gaara, who approached and stopped in front of her.

I'm glad that you are back," he said softly.

Sakura's eyes were glistening intensely and nodded with a smile at him. "Me too…"

The rest of the group cheered with a few claps on their hands. "Welcome back, Miss Sakura Haruno!"

The pink-haired kunoichi began to giggle shyly as her cheeks tinged in pink and said. "Thank you, all…"

"Now, let's go head back to get everyone out of the barrier," Shikamaru instructed with a smirk.

"Yeah, they must be there for more than one day," Temari noted.

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Ahhh! Let's go!" Naruto yelled out determinedly.

"Yaahhh!" The crew cried out in unison as they started to head out of the cave, whereas Gaara and Sakura were staying behind them.

"After that, we need to make sure that every individual need to be taken to the hospital for a check-up," the red-haired Kazekage said hurriedly.

"I'll do the best I can," the pink-haired kunoichi agreed as they both were running to catch up with them in a quick pace.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	13. Mission Complete!

**Please read & review!**

* * *

"It's hot out here… We need food and water. If we can't find one, we might as well just-" one of the citizen men whined helplessly and got interrupted.

"Oh, shut up! Don't be so pessimistic. We'll be fine, alright?" One of his friends said sighing tiredly.

In an instant, the walls of the barrier were dissolving into tiny little sparkle dust as it was slowly descending down beneath the sandy ground. Many people were watching it crumble in the process and they began to applaud cheerfully when they saw the rest of the shinobi looking down upon them from the roof of the buildings with pleasant smiles.

Everyone was all relieved as they were acknowledging them by clapping and praising. At the same time, Sakura, Naruto, and the crew noticed one of the Akatsuki members flying in the air in a huge white bird. It was none other than, Deidara himself.

"Shit… We've got to stop him… He's going to do something," Kankuro swore beside them.

"Don't worry. Gaara and his assistants are on their way. I have to take the people to the hospital. I got to go. Please, be careful," Sakura said reassuringly as she glanced at them and flashed out of sight.

"Good luck!" They replied in unison.

"Okay. So lately, the leaders already investigated a lot about a bomb inside the Kazekage tower. Right now, we just have to do our part," Shikamaru stated.

"Hold on… He has a button on his hand. What do we do?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes intently at the enemy above them.

"We wing it," Shikamaru ordered quietly.

"Let's go!" Kankuro said as they all nodded in agreement and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

They were running and hopping on different surfaces of the roofs, whereas Naruto began to use his Shadow Clone jutsu and form the blue chakra into a huge sphere.

Temari, on the other hand, uses one of her ninjutsu techniques to fly across the sky and catch up to their opponent.

"Ah… Nice to see your faces. I can't wait to erupt them like balloons. Now, that is art, yeah," Deidara smirked sadistically as he started to create a few bombs of clays and throw them around.

"Not so fast! Ahh! Wind Scythe Jutsu!" The ponytail-haired kunoichi exclaimed firmly as she fanned the wind, using the amount of strength that causes the white bird to sink a little down further.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled out angrily when he strikes him with the power he was holding onto.

"Aargh! Bastards!" Deidara said, grunting in pain after receiving a few injuries on his left leg. However, he managed to raise up his two fingers to detonate the bombs. "Explode!"

Suddenly, explosions were made near the buildings as the sand bricks were falling down into the ground. But then, huge sand was scattered around the top of the citizens' heads as a one of his Ultimate Defense.

Naruto, Kankuro, and Temari were glancing around to see where the red-haired Kazekage was. They smiled when he was riding on the sand to face his enemy once again.

"Gaara!" The blonde-haired ninja called out with a wave.

"Damn… This is Deja-Vu," Temari noted, shaking her head in surprise.

"What'd you know?" Kankuro said smirking proudly at the presence of his younger brother.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the One-Tailed Beast is completely alive and ready to die for the second time," Deidara said chuckling wickedly with an evil smirk.

"I wouldn't be ce _r_ tain of that…" Gaara remarked calmly.

Immediately, the Akatsuki member stood frozen on his spot and looked down upon his feet as he noticed that a shadow was controlling his entire body.

"What the hell?!" Deidara cursed out loud in irritation.

"Hmm. Bingo. Looks like you're plan flopped really hard," Shikamaru smirked as he held his hands together, then let them go. He initiated the enemy's arm to drop the detonator off into a distance as the blonde-haired ninja carefully catches it with both hands.

"I got it!" Naruto informed, grinning widely.

"Your time is up," Gaara said to their opponent as his sand was enveloping his entire figure and performed one of his techniques with a gesture. "Sand Coffin!"

"Ahh!" Deidara screamed when his body had crushed into many pieces.

Unfortunately, the red-haired Kazekage's eyes widened in shock when he realizes that it's all a substitution replacement.

"They're all made of white clay," Temari said in frustration.

"Damn it… Are you serious?!" Kankuro questioned in confusion.

"Hmm. You won't find me no more," Deidara said behind them when he started to fly away on top of the white bird as a way to escape out of the sand village. He passes through the clouds and was never seen again.

Everyone else was watching intrusively at the Akatsuki depart as quickly as possible without letting himself get caught by the hands of the other shinobi.

"Ugh… You almost had him," Naruto said clenching his fists tightly in anger.

"No, it's alright… No need to worry about him. We are all safe now. He won't harm us. It's over," Gaara concluded as he closed his eyes for a moment to levitate down on the rooftop.

"Yeah, he's right. We can't go chasing after him. There's no time to make another plan for that," Shikamaru noted logically.

"Agreed," Kankuro said as he places his arms behind his head and sighed.

"What's next?" Temari asked curiously.

"Hmm… No idea. For now, let's head to the hospital and inform Sakura," Shikamaru said with a smile.

"Yup. She must be worried about us, you know," Kankuro noted.

"Let's go!" Naruto encouraged and started to jump down onto the streets while the others were following behind him.

One thing that they know is that there are no hidden threats or attacks going towards them since they are finally now at peace.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	14. Too Good To Be True

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Evening came when Team 7 were called to the office by Gaara's orders, including his siblings. They were standing in front of his desk, smiling after all the hard work and effort they've put into their tasks.

"I'm very pleased with the outcomes of this mission. For that, I couldn't be grateful enough for the three of you; Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura. Thank you. Even though, we may not have captured the other Akatsuki members. You were capable and willing to risk your lives to save the well beings of others in our town," the red-haired Kazekage stated proudly.

"You're welcome. But you know, it was also thanks to you three as well," Shikamaru noted with a light chuckle.

"Hey, hey! What are we going to do next? It was such a fun adventure," Naruto said grinning giddily.

"Yup. It sure is. But the good news is that everyone else is safe and nobody is in any kind of danger at this current moment," Temari pointed out in relief.

"Yeah. But don't you think it was a bit of a struggle, eh? The poisonous gas had everyone going insane. No natural sunlight whatsoever," Kankuro recalled back at the memory.

"Sorry… hehe," Sakura giggled nervously as she closed her eyes with a thin smile and rubs her head on the side slowly.

"Don't blame yourself, girl. I know you've been going through some things lately. Damn, just how could you have two spirits in you? You must be too exhausted to steady yourself together," Temari said laughing impressively.

"That's what my friend Ino asked me. I don't know. It's hard to say. But the easiest thing to explain to you is that my inner self has always been a part of my nature. Nobody can ever change that, except me," Sakura said softly.

Naruto and Shikamaru glanced at her while she was standing in the middle between them, having second thoughts.

Gaara, on the other hand, writes a letter for Tsunade about the results. He then gives it to Shikamaru, saying. "Here."

"Thanks," the leaf jounin leader nodded as he took it and scrolled it up to put inside his small bag.

"Please notify Lady Hokage once you three return back home," the red-haired Kazekage reminded with a smile until he looked at Sakura's direction and said. "I'm glad you're alright now. How are you feeling?"

The pink-haired kunoichi's lips curled and tries not to prevent her cheeks from turning into bright pink. She answers lightly. "I feel good. A good different."

Everyone else in the room understood her words, then Baki spoke out.

"Anyway, since your mission is done. What do you guys want to do? I want to treat you all to a nice dinner. It may not be fancy as you may expect. But it will be quite a lot fun for you three to interact with other shinobi. They are rare and well-skilled. Perhaps, dinner reservations will be held at 9:00 pm. Is that okay with you?" He asked gently.

"Sure, of course!" Sakura nodded in delight.

"I'm in," Naruto said chuckling.

"Duh," Shikamaru sighed smirking in agreement.

"Good. See you later, kiddos!" Baki gave them a curt nod and left the office as he exits the door, much to the others' surprise.

"Well, that's it. I guess. I'm going to get ready," Naruto noted.

"Okay. I'll meet you guys outside the hallway," Kankuro said smirking.

"I'm going to take a rest first," Sakura said with a wave at her friends as she followed Naruto along the way out of the room.

Shikamaru watches the two closest friends leave and closed his eyes for a moment to think before he speak out.

"So, Gaara… When are you going to tell them?" He asked quietly.

"Hmm. Yeah, I was wondering the same," Kankuro said sternly as he stared at his younger brother at the corner of his eyes.

Temari only stood quietly in silence without saying something off from her chest. She was staring into space and was hoping that nothing will go wrong.

However, she cannot control what was happening around her and her little brother's decisions.


	15. Gaara and Katsumi

**Please read & review**

* * *

It was one hour left before Sakura heads out of the rented apartment room that she was still in. After taking a shower, she opens the door while wearing a light pink bathrobe with little cherry blossom flowers on the bottom of her right side. She unwrapped the towel from her head and began to hair blow dry her hair, using her fingers.

A few minutes later, she started to wear the same outfit that she has. But this time, her body has grown a little bit maturely as she already noticed earlier. She then folded her ninja headband on the forefront.

"Okay… I'm ready," she said with an enthusiastic smile.

 _"_ _You better not do anything clumsy," inner Sakura noted with a giggle._

 _"_ _I won't. I know what I'm going to say," the pink-haired kunoichi pointed out confidently._

 _"_ _Of course. We're the best. Cha!" She exclaimed out loud._

 _"_ _You got that right," Sakura said smiling genuinely at herself as she looked up and down to see if she looks fine._

All of a sudden, she started to hear a woman screaming for help, which caught her attention. She quickly slammed the door behind her to find where she was.

During that time, Naruto and Shikamaru were standing outside the hallway while they were waiting for their friends to arrive in.

"Ah. I really enjoyed this kind of occasion, don't you think? People can spend their evening with their loved ones," the leaf jounin leader said sighing in amazement.

"I agree. We should do this more often once we are not too busy with our schedules," the blonde-haired ninja suggested thoughtfully and continued on with a smirk. "So… Are you and Temari dating?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened in shock and prevent himself from blushing in embarrassment. "You wish… No. We are not. We happen to be working together, just because it was only Lady Tsunade and Gaara's orders."

"But you like her," Naruto pointed out with a wide grin.

"As a friend," Shikamaru rolled his eyes at him annoyingly.

"Alrighty, if you say so," the blonde-haired ninja said chuckling.

"Besides, that girl is going to be the death of me," the leaf jounin leader stated lazily.

"You got that right," a familiar voice called out behind them.

Both of them turned around to see who it was.

"Temari," Shikamaru muttered in astonishment and asks nervously. "H-how long have you've been there?"

The ponytail-haired kunoichi snorted and shook her head, saying. "Just now. Anyway, Kankuro is already inside the room, so we should go and find our section."

"Yeah, I'm starving. Do they have ramen in the menu?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Ugh. You really need to cut that down. It's not always good for your health, you know," Shikamaru noted with an exasperated sigh.

"Hehe. There is, but I suggest that you should try out other meals that they serve here. They are so delicious. Come on, let's go," Temari said smiling.

"Wait. What about Sakura and Gaara?" Naruto questioned curiously.

"They're both going to be on their way. No need to worry," the ponytail-haired kunoichi replied reassuringly as the three began to approach in front of the receptionist desk to sign in. Then, they head inside the room.

In the meantime, the red-haired Kazekage quickly appeared in a swirl of sand, looking calm as always. He looked at the secretary and checks the list of people who have entered in. He thanks him and goes to the specific area where he notices his friends sitting on the way back next to the window.

"Oh, Gaara!" Naruto called out giddily with a wave.

"Just in time, little bro," Kankuro said smirking coolly.

The red-haired Kazekage gave them a greeting nod and approaches their table as he passes by the others. He immediately sat down in one of the empty chairs and asks. "How are you all doing? "

"Great! By the way, I've been practicing a lot of summoning techniques today and I've received a small letter from old man, Jiraiya," the blonde-haired ninja said grinning.

"Yeah. And I was still doing some tutoring with the other students. You know, how to control the puppetry and all that stuff. It's fun. This was the first time I haven't been working with you back in your office, Gaara," Kankuro said chuckling.

"Indeed. It's alright, I have other jounins who will assist in helping me with the paperwork. I understand that you and Temari need a spare time," Gaara said softly.

"Hm. I was mostly with Shikamaru the whole day. Both of us were still trying to analyze the information of the Akatsuki group in the lab. It's a bit tough, you know. But it will benefit us to take advantage of their aggression," Temari explained firmly.

"I see. I'm impressed," Gaara said smiling.

"Well, there's more than that. I'm sensing that there's tension going on between-" Naruto started to tease, but he got elbowed on the shoulder by Shikamaru, who gave him a dirty look. The blonde-haired ninja just tried to stifle laughter from his mouth.

"I'm here," a familiar voice said merrily.

The group looked up and greeted surprisingly in unison. "Sakura!"

"Sorry, I know I'm a bit late. There was a bit trouble down the street. I had to stop a burglar from snatching the old lady's purse," the pink-haired kunoichi said, panting out of breath.

"Huh? Wow, is she okay?" Naruto asked in concern.

"Of course. I've taken her home, which was a long way. But yeah, everything is under control," Sakura sighed in relief.

"That's good to hear. Come on and sit down. We should start ordering our meals," Temari noted.

"Sure," the pink-haired kunoichi nodded in agreement as she sat down between Naruto and Gaara.

Everyone in the group was chatting among themselves and telling different stories about each other. They laugh and cry at the moments that had happened with them.

"Alright, glasses up in the air! Cheers!" Naruto announced gleefully.

"Cheers!" They all replied in unison and cling their glasses up forward noisily. Then, they all drink at the same time.

Later on after dinner, they were all gathered in a circle outside the street post as they were watching the full moon glow brightly.

"Man, this is fun. I really wish the others were here too," Naruto said as he placed his arms behind his head to rest.

"Next time. We'll hang out," Temari smiled at the thought.

"Right. We've been working our asses off too much. I get that we're all shinobi, but we can't waste our youthful years for nothing. We need to enjoy being a teenager and have fun," Kankuro pointed out.

"Gaara… There's something I need to tell you privately," Sakura muttered nervously beside him with her hands folded tightly together.

"Hm. What is it?" He asked softly as he glanced at his right shoulder to stare at her.

"I know that these past few days made me act so strange lately. Since I've finally realized that I've been having these thoughts, I just want to let you know that I-" the pink-haired kunoichi looked down shyly, then raised her head up, but got interrupted.

"So Gaara, what are you going to tell us?" Shikamaru asked clearly as a reminder.

They all stopped talking and stood in silence. They began to look at the red-haired Kazekage directly in puzzlement as they were waiting for him to speak up.

Naruto was blinking his eyes and raises his left eyebrow quizzically without saying anything until they all heard a voice calling out in excitement.

"Gaara… Boo!" The brunette was running towards the group and she quickly wrapped her arms around him and giggled in delight.

The red-haired Kazekage reciprocated as he embraced her, much to the others' surprise. "I'm glad you showed up." He then turns around to look at his friends and declare. "Everyone… I have news… Katsumi and I are in a relationship."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he dropped his jaw in awe, saying. "Ehh?! That's… That's great, Gaara! Congratulations!"

"Woah. That's it. I'm happy for you, man," Shikamaru said smirking with a nod.

Kankuro and Temari looked at each other in the corner of their eyes as their smiles were beginning to falter.

"Yeah…! That is wonderful news!" The purple-faced ninja said, clenching his teeth in annoyance. Then, he got elbowed by Temari, who was giving him a warning look.

"Anyway, yeah. That's great. Congratulations, Gaara," the ponytail-haired kunoichi said genuinely.

"Yay! Ahh," Katsumi jumped a little for joy and hugged the red-haired Kazekage adoringly as she kissed him on the right cheek.

Sakura, on the other hand, was staring at the couple holding hands together, which made her heart drop a little. Her eyes were glistening wistfully but still managed to smile, saying. "Congratulations… Gaara and Katsumi."

"Thank you," the red-haired Kazekage nodded happily towards her as he was holding Katsumi's hand while they were having a moment with each other.

"Anyway, guys. I got to go now. I've been exhausted, so I need a lot of rest… Goodnight," the pink-haired kunoichi said firmly with a wave as she turned around, not looking back at them.

Kankuro and Temari were watching her walk away slowly from the group circle and they couldn't help but feel worried about her.

Little did they know is that a single drop of tear had fallen from Sakura's eyes.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	16. Kankuro and Temari's Predictions

**Please read & review!**

* * *

Before dawn, Team 7 were carrying the backpacks while they were standing outside the main entrance of the sand village, now that they are about to leave.

"Well, I guess this is where we usually separate our ways. We can still keep in touch," Shikamaru said smirking reassuringly.

"Man. This is sad because we're so far away from each other. We live in two different villages and we are still able to keep up with our friendships," Naruto said frowning.

"Don't worry. By the next time of winter season hit, the three of us will be the ones visiting you more there," Temari said smiling.

"Yeah. You better give us a big welcome," Kankuro smirked at them.

"Hm. More like surprises and presents because Christmas is in the next few months," Sakura giggled.

"Wow! What are you going to get me? Mistletoe?" Naruto joked as he laughed when his best friend slapped him on the shoulder.

"You wish," the pink-haired kunoichi snorted ridiculously at his comment as she rolled her eyes at him.

"We will also bring you some giveaways and mostly for the children," Gaara said softly.

"Right. That's a good idea. What about celebrating parties around the streets or like hosting different kinds of booths?" Katsumi suggested in excitement.

"Sure. That will be an amazing idea. I'll inform Lady Tsunade about this since we agreed to this plan," Shikamaru noted at that.

The red-haired Kazekage gazed at Katsumi on his right side, saying with a genuine smile. "I'm impressed. You have a creative vision, I see."

"Hehe. Really?! Thanks, boo," Katsumi hugged him in a tight squeeze delightfully.

Sakura, on the other hand, stared at them blankly as she tries not to react about their affection towards each other. She only smiled at them and laughed along with Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Anyway, we'll be going now," the leaf jounin leader said with a curt nod.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things to catch up at home," the pink-haired kunoichi noted thoughtfully.

Kankuro and Temari looked at her worriedly with their eyes narrowed . They knew that something was not right with Sakura, but they decided not to discuss about it. Instead, they gave them a nod in understanding.

"Alright. Stay safe, you guys," the purple-faced ninja said smirking.

"Yeah. Be careful out there. You never know if there are monsters lurking around," the ponytail-haired kunoichi reminded gently.

The pink-haired kunoichi nodded and said softly. "Of course, we will."

"We can do it. No need to worry. We even managed to fight one of the black Scorpions here," Naruto said enthusiastically.

"I see. But it got away, did it?" Temari asked, trying to stifle a laughter.

"Ugh. Don't even think about it," the blonde-haired ninja said, crying in a funny expression.

The others were laughing for a few seconds about it. Then as soon as Team 7 was waving goodbye to the Sand Siblings, Sakura decided not to look back the couple since she know that she might be too obvious of herself.

Later on, Kankuro and Temari met up in the balcony while they were sitting down on the floor during their day off. They were discussing about the upcoming events that may take place some time in the future.

"Man… I can't believe that we've gone through all that trouble with the poisonous gas. We thought it was someone else from the Akatsuki that we never heard of," the purple-faced ninja said quietly.

"It turns out that it was Sakura's other half," the ponytail-haired kunoichi muttered.

"Just how did she got out of her body and became dreadful?" Kankuro asked curiously.

"I don't know… I guess her spiritual connection with Sakura had shattered because of her feelings of resentment, anger, and pain that brought her out," Temari answered sadly.

"Yeah. Other than that, she could've been either controlled by someone else that goes against Sakura. That may be one of the possible cases that the Akatsuki are trying to take advantage of," Kankuro said.

"And to think that a person can fight against their own self, that is just… crazy. It's hard to imagine that even your inner battles are the most crucial parts that you're facing," Temari described and continued on. "Sakura is strong… than the others, no matter how big or small the problem is. She is able to find a way to resolve them by going back to the main root of it."

"Yeah. I agree. That girl is definitely a tough kunoichi. It's no wonder that Naruto, Lee and maybe someone else have a major crush on her," the purple-faced ninja chuckled at that thought.

"Hmm. But… do you think Gaara likes her?" The ponytail-haired kunoichi whispered.

"Maybe. Maybe not. However, I mostly think there's a possibility that our little bro has an interest in her… It's not even close to being 'just friends,' you know. I mean, I get the fact that he has a girlfriend now at this age. Like woah, he went first before me," Kankuro chuckled in amusement and continued on. "However, I doubt that Gaara is only doing this just to move on from Sakura."

"Wait, wait. What do you mean by him moving on?" Temari questioned with her eyebrow raised up in confusion.

"You see… Gaara did liked Sakura, but then he found out that she's still in love with Sasuke. So, what did he do? He simply forgot about his feelings for her and instead, he decided to go back and be with his other childhood friend, Katsumi," the purple-faced ninja explained.

"I see… Is that why he's been acting different around her lately? He must've been deprived at those times. Though, I can't say I'm blaming Sakura for Gaara's heartbreak," Temari said frowning.

"No. Not really. What can we do? It's young love. Some teenagers nowadays are falling carelessly for the other ones that they're attracted to. Most of the times, things don't end up well with them, which is why it's called an impossible dream," Kankuro pointed out logically.

"Pfftt. Impossible? Hm. The only thing that is an impossible dream is Gaara and Katsumi's relationship," the ponytail-haired kunoichi said in annoyance and continued on. "I just can't stand that girl... She's always driving me insane. Everytime I'm with Shikamaru, she's interfering our conversation together."

"I agree. That girl is a batty. But she can be smart, you know. I think I'm mostly comfortable to be around Sakura than I'm with Katsumi," the purple-faced ninja thought in speculation.

"Yeah… who do you think that Sakura is going to end up with?" Temari asked curiously.

"My guess is that it's either Sasuke or Naruto…" Kankuro said straightforwardly.

Both of them paused for a moment and they burst out laughing at his ridiculous statement.

"Ah. We don't know. It's possible. But you know, the other night, I had this weird dream… It seems like I've noticed two people holding hands together while everyone was surrounding them in a circle. It's a kind of all blurry, which I couldn't recognize their faces… However, one thing for sure is that the both of them have the same auras and are wearing two different bracelets…" Temari explained with a frown.

Kankuro stared at her for a moment in thought and closed his eyes, saying. "It is not a coincidence… It's going to happen someday and I have a strong feeling that they will eventually reveal themselves and their true love for one another."

Temari nodded in agreement and didn't say anything afterwards while they were continuing to watch the clouds drift away by the sun. They know that everything will fall into the right place at the right time and it takes a bit of faith and patience in many things that they believe in. Both of them do not know who the two people are, but they could only hope for the best.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	17. Just For Now

**Please read & review!**

* * *

Around 7:00 am in the morning, the rest of the leaf squad were standing near the main entrance gates. They were preparing themselves to hold up a huge sign banner, whereas the others were holding confetti poppers and balloons as they were talking casually.

"Honestly, I've been making some new weapons lately and finding a way to start my own business," Tenten sighed tiredly with a yawn.

"I've been wandering around the neighbourhood if there's anyone who I could spar with and beat them up to the extent," Kiba said snorting arrogantly.

"Jeez. That seems to be aberrant. I doubt that people would approve to go practice training with you if you are just going to harass them. Seriously? How thick can you get?" Ino remarked with a shook of her head.

"I've been eating so many junk food and I almost got constipated in my bowels. I tried not to fart so loud in my bedroom as much as possible. It was too horrible," Choji said unpleasantly.

"Gross. You are a nasty fu-" Kiba was laughing until he got shoved harshly on the shoulder.

"Okay. That's enough. Look, Choji. You really need to avoid those junkies if you don't want to upset your stomach. Try eating more vegetables and lean meat," Ino advised him carefully.

"I totally agree with you. After all, Guy-sensei had encouraged me to balance my diet daily. That is why I've become stronger and stronger," Lee pointed out as he flexed his muscles out in demonstration.

"Hm. I was more into meditation lately," Neji spoke out coolly with his arms crossed.

"That's great. How about you, Hinata? What have you been doing these days?" Ino asked curiously.

"Practicing my ninjutsu and developing new techniques," she answered softly.

"Ah… I see, you're trying to get ahead of everything, eh? Or are you trying to impress a certain boy in our group-" Ino teased, but got interrupted.

"N-n-no! I just want to be better than I was before," Hinata protested as she tried to prevent her cheeks from blushing in embarrassment.

"Lady Tsunade, I was wondering if there are other specific type of books that I can borrow from the library? My pet bugs have been acting funny lately," Shino asked inquisitively.

"Is that so? I can help you with that some other time. Feel free to come by to my office," the fifth Hokage answered.

"No, I can't. I have to be at home to do some tasks for my parents," Shino said.

"Alright, then. Again, come by anytime," Tsunade said with a curt nod.

"How about you, Lee? Do you know?" Shino asked beside him.

"Sorry. I don't, but you can ask Sakura once she gets back here in a minute or so," Lee noted.

"Wait! Is that them?!" Kiba questioned out loud in excitement.

The group glanced around to look at the three figures walking towards them with their bags being carried on their shoulders.

"Hey! Sakura! Naruto! Shikamaru!" Ino called out cheerfully.

Then, the leaf squad pulled out the huge banner as a Welcome Back sign in front of them and burst out the confetti poppers in the air, much to the Team 7's astonishment.

"Surprise!" They announced harmoniously.

Team 7, on the other hand, smiled warmly at them, whereas Sakura started to run towards the girls to hug and greet them, including her mentor.

Naruto and Shikamaru were both walking towards the boys as they were all talking about the successful mission that they've completed a few days ago.

"Ino, Hinata, Tenten, and Lady Tsunade!" The pink-haired kunoichi said happily.

"Hey, girl. How have you been?" Ino asked giddily.

"Tired, but I had fun," Sakura answered softly.

"Hm. You don't suppose you find the mission too difficult, do you?" The legendary sanin queered with a smirk.

"Well… It is. Luckily, I had a help of my friends. We almost tried to capture the Akatsuki, but they escaped," the pink-haired kunoichi explained with a frown and continued on to smile.

"Damn. Tell us all about it. You must've dealt with more tasks in the hospital," Tenten said grinning widely in eagerness.

They all were walking around and continued to discuss about the events that had happened a while back, especially Sakura's interpersonal problems.

Later on, the pink-haired kunoichi arrived back home and greeted her mom and dad politely in the kitchen.

"Oh, Sakura. My dear, how are you doing these past few weeks?" Mebuki asked surprisingly while she was cooking lunch meals.

"Did you get an A+ on the mission to the Hidden Sand? Was it too much difficulty? Are you hurt?" Kizashi interrogated briskly.

"Honey! Calm down. You're stressing our daughter with all the questions you're rambling about. Come on, dear. I'm making you a nice Japanese bento with lemon honey tea," Mebuki said smiling gladly at her.

Sakura nodded in silence and said with a warm smile. "Thanks, mom. And yes, dad… The mission was absolutely intricate, but Naruto, Shikamaru, and I managed to fought the enemies there. So, it wasn't too much problematic."

"Ah, I see. Well, your mom and I are both relieved that you are home safe. We are mostly worried sick about you when you left the village," Kizashi said.

"I'm alright, mom and dad. Thanks for your concern. I really appreciate it. Anyway, I'll be back as soon as I unpack my stuff," Sakura noted, then she began to walk upstairs and head inside her bedroom.

She looked around to see her belongings being displayed in two of her tables between her bed and placed her bag on the corner as she sighed in exhaustion.

At that moment, she began to sat down on the sofa chair near her open window, sighing in relief as she was having second thoughts. She caressed her sand bracelet gently through the tip of her fingers.

She closed her eyes for a moment not to cry at the memory of Gaara and Katsumi being together.

 _FLASHBACK:_

 _"Sakura. Nice to see you again," Gaara smiled gladly in relief and introduces the girl on the right. "This is my long time friend, Katsumi."_

 _"Hi, are you guys dating?" The dark brunette girl asked grinning._

 _Naruto and Sakura chuckled ridiculously at that statement._

 _"That's funny, we never dated," the blonde-haired ninja said, shaking his head in disbelief._

 _"Yeah, to think we will," the pink-haired kunoichi remarked calmly._

 _"I see. Well, just to let you know that Gaara and I are on a date," Katsumi replied with a giggle._

 _"A Date?" Sakura asked frowning while staring at the red-haired Kazekage._

 _"Obviously, but isn't that more of a discussion, just like what Kankuro and Temari mentioned?" Naruto questioned further at his friend._

 _END OF FLASHBACK_

 _ANOTHER FLASHBACK:_

 _"Gaara... Boo!" The brunette was running towards the group and she quickly wrapped her arms around him and giggled in delight._

 _The red-haired Kazekage reciprocated as he embraced her, much to the others' surprise. "I'm glad you showed up." He then turns around to look at his friends and declare. "Everyone... I have news... Katsumi and I are in a relationship."_

 _Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he dropped his jaw in awe, saying. "Ehh?! That's... That's great, Gaara! Congratulations!"_

 _"Woah. That's it. I'm happy for you, man," Shikamaru said smirking with a nod._

 _Kankuro and Temari looked at each other in the corner of their eyes as their smiles were beginning to falter._

 _"Yeah...! That is wonderful news!" The purple-faced ninja said, clenching his teeth in annoyance. Then, he got elbowed by Temari, who was giving him a warning look._

 _"Anyway, yeah. That's great. Congratulations, Gaara," the ponytail-haired kunoichi said genuinely._

 _"Yay! Ahh," Katsumi jumped a little for joy and hugged the red-haired Kazekage adoringly as she kissed him on the right cheek._

 _Sakura, on the other hand, was staring at the couple holding hands together, which made her heart drop a little. Her eyes were glistening wistfully but still managed to smile, saying. "Congratulations... Gaara and Katsumi."_

 _"Thank you," the red-haired Kazekage nodded happily towards her as he was holding Katsumi's hand while they were having a moment with each other._

 _"Anyway, guys. I got to go now. I've been exhausted, so I need a lot of rest... Goodnight," the pink-haired kunoichi said firmly with a wave as she turned around, not looking back at them._

 _END OF THE SECOND FLASHBACK_

 _FINAL FLASHBACK_

 _"Right. That's a good idea. What about celebrating parties around the streets or like hosting different kinds of booths?" Katsumi suggested in excitement._

 _"Sure. That will be an amazing idea. I'll inform Lady Tsunade about this since we agreed to this plan," Shikamaru noted at that._

 _The red-haired Kazekage gazed at Katsumi on his right side, saying with a genuine smile. "I'm impressed. You have a creative vision, I see."_

 _"Hehe. Really?! Thanks, boo," Katsumi hugged him in a tight squeeze delightfully._

 _Sakura, on the other hand, stared at them blankly as she tries not to react about their affection towards each other. She only smiled at them and laughed along with Naruto and Shikamaru._

 _END OF THE FINAL FLASHBACK_

Back in the present time, Sakura still remembers her feelings towards Sasuke. She couldn't help but think about the days where she went on the same missions with him. Her eyes were glistening in desolation as she was staring off into space while tapping her fingers lightly on the edge of window sill.

" _How long are you going to be gone…? Naruto and I missed you so much," she said desperately in mind. "Please, come home."_

" _ **Don't worry… He will be," inner Sakura reminded with a hopeful smile and continued on. "I know. It still hurts. But you can't keep waiting for him forever and I know that moving on is not easy. But it will take a lot of time and effort to do so. You can do this, Sakura. I have faith in you and I know that somebody else will eventually come into your life."**_

" _Yeah, you're right… That is why I admire you. I admire your encouragement and support for me. Thank you for returning. I'm grateful for that. Without you, my life would be meaningless," the pink-haired kunoichi said genuinely with tears running down from her cheeks._

" _ **You're welcome. I'll be here… Always," her inner said with a smile.**_

Later on at night, she was walking down on the streets of her hometown and decided to stop by at the bridge to pluck out the white lily petals and drop them gently upon the rivers of water.

All at once, Naruto began to show up beside her with a small acknowledgement.

"So, I guess this is place for you to refresh your mind, eh…?" The blonde-haired ninja asked with a smile.

Sakura glanced at her right shoulder to look at him and said with a nod. "Yeah. I just need… time to reflect on some things…"

"Does it bother you?" Naruto frowned.

The pink-haired kunoichi breathes out, saying with reassurance. "I can't lie to you about that. Though, I'm perfectly fine."

"Sakura… I know you very well… I know how you act, I know how you say things, but I don't know how you are thinking. So tell me, I'm all ears," Naruto said, leaning forward to look at her as he folded his hands while resting his arms on the wooden bridge railing.

"I miss… him, you know," the pink-haired kunoichi said quietly and continued on. "It's been two years since he left all of us. I've kept wondering to myself when will he come back… Yet, I'm pushing myself forward to move on from him as much as possible. Throughout those months, I became lost with myself. I was trying to connect with my inner self and I've noticed that deep within me… I've lost my other voice. I've forgotten who I was until we went on a mission together at the hidden sand village… That's where I've finally get the chance to meet her again and to come back to me. Not just to fill that emptiness in my heart, but to fill the both of us with more love… That's when I've realized that I was looking for something in the wrong person. I've realized that I should be looking something more inside myself… That is her. That is me… I still don't know the answer as to why I'm still in love with Sasuke… Why am I still holding onto him if he never really cared about me in the first place?"

Naruto was staring at her intensely and muttered. "I don't know, Sakura… I'm sorry. But I can help you get through this… I promise." He then gently holds her right hand with comfort and continued on to describe a few things. "Sasuke is already fallen into darkness and it doesn't stop us from reaching out to him because he is still our friend… If Itachi didn't kill his own entire family, then Sasuke wouldn't have chosen to this kind of path that he's in."

Sakura was holding her tears back and sniffed out, saying. "Yeah. Like the others said, everything happens for a reason."

"But we will know what that reason is… So, let's make a promise together that no matter how life is going to turn out, we stick together, and-" the blonde-haired ninja said firmly.

"We fight together," the pink-haired kunoichi stated.

"As long as we protect each other," they both concluded in unison as they stood in silence.

They both know that they are going to be having a lot of new challenges, new faces coming along in their way. However, Sakura and Naruto would never believe to themselves to surrender. They will still keep believing in the hopes of seeing their long time friend again. And for some reason, Sakura is starting to think about Gaara without even knowing that she is harboring new feelings.

* * *

 _TO BE CONTINUED..._


	18. To Be Continued

Hey, guys! Thank you so much for reading this GaaSaku fanfiction story, which I've written several chapters based on their journey. I really appreciate your support and encouragement that brought me to continue writing more about this pairing and inspire many of you. I'll be posting a new story and it will resume to the original manga/anime of Naruto Shippuden. Of course, I made this story a canon. If you haven't read my other stories besides the GaaSaku fanfics, you can come and check them out!

After this, I won't be writing more GaaSaku since I'm starting to focus more on other genres of the Anime World, such as **Bleach** and **FairyTail**. Most likely, the **Harry Potter world.** I will talk more about it right after the completion. Thanks and stay tuned! :)


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